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MARY   QUEEN   OF  SCOTS 

VOL.  I 


4? 


MARY  QUEEN  OF 
SCOTS 


HER  ENVIRONMENT  AND  TRAGEDY 

^  mOGRAPHY 

BY 

T.   F.   HENDERSON  <" 


With  102  Illustrations,  including  2  Photogravure  Plates 


CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S  SONS 
153-157   FIFTH  AVENUE 
1905 


TO8T0N  COLLEGE  LlBRARf 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS, 


[^Printed  in  Great  Briiain.] 


PREFACE 


MY  explanation  for  seeking  to  add  to  the  numerous 
works  on  Mary  Stuart  may  be  stated  in  a  sentence. 
The  recent  concise  biographies — whatever  their  special 
merits — and  the  more  important  works,  lately  published, 
on  special  aspects  of  the  subject,  so  far  from  forestalling, 
rather  suggest  the  desirability,  of  a  biography  dealing  in 
a  somewhat  detailed  and  critical  fashion  with  the  main 
episodes  of  her  career.  True,  among  recent  contributions 
to  Marian  literature  is  the  first  volume  of  Dr.  Hay 
Fleming's  notable  example  of  biographic  spadework.  That 
book  is,  however,  more  a  dictionary  of  the  errors  of  other 
biographers  of  the  Queen  than  a  biography  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  term.  It  has,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  done  valuable 
service  towards  dissipating  many  persistent  and  venerable 
delusions  about  Queen  Mary  ;  but  its  method  is  entirely 
exceptional,  and  only  to  be  justified  by  the  exceptional 
peculiarities  of  the  Marian  controversy  ;  while  its  effect 
is  necessarily,  on  the  whole,  negative  rather  than  positive, 
and  perhaps  more  unfavourable  to  Mary  than  is  actually  in- 
tended. Another  recent  biographical  work  of  importance 
is  the  lively  and  graphic  volume  on  the  Love  Affairs  of 
Mary  due  en  of  Scots^  by  Major  Martin  Hume,  to  whose 


vi 


PREFACE 


labours  in  calendaring  the  Spanish  State  Papers  all 
students  of  this  period  of  English  and  Scottish  history- 
are  under  a  debt  of  obligation  ;  but  the  volume  deals 
mainly  with  a  special  aspect  of  the  Queen's  character  and 
career.  Of  recents  works,  less  strictly  biographic  in  form, 
a  first  place  must  be  assigned  to  Father  Pollen's  Papal 
Negotiations,  which,  besides  supplying  much  new  and 
varied  information  in  regard  to  minor  details,  has  made 
known  the  suggestive  fact  that  Mary  dared  to  marry 
Darnley  without  a  Papal  dispensation.  But  for  Father 
Pollen,  also,  we  probably  should  not  have  had  Mr.  Lang's 
bright  and  ingenious  Mystery  of  Mary  Stuart,  with  its 
remarkable  Casket  Letter  theory,  which  I  have  dealt  with 
in  an  appendix  ;  and,  again,  Mr.  Lang's  volume  has  been 
the  apparent  begetter  of  Mr.  Hewlett's  clever  and  realistic 
Queen  s  Quair^  which  is,  however,  of  course,  romance  rather 
than  history,  and,  vividly  suggestive  though  it  be,  rather 
provokes  biography  than  supplies  it. 

For  the  student  of  human  nature,  the  career  of  Mary 
Stuart  must  ever  have  a  special  fascination,  as  a  striking 
example  of  a  strong  personality  the  issues  of  whose  life 
seem  to  have  been  persistently  determined  by  an  adverse 
fate  ;  while  the  whole  range  of  human  history  affords  no 
better  opportunity  for  the  study  of  the  moral  and  social 
influences  that  determine  a  nation's  destiny.  It  is  all  very 
well  to  insist  on  attention,  in  the  study  of  history,  to  ex- 
ternal customs,  habits,  social  conditions,  progress  in  art  and 
science  and  industry  ;  but  after  all,  history  is  the  history 


PREFACE 


vii 


of  human  nature,  and  these  details  are  the  mere  trappings 
of  the  subject.  It  is  the  heart  of  the  nation  that  we 
desire  to  understand  ;  and  on  account  of  the  tension  and 
stress  of  the  great  contest  that  centred  round  Mary  Stuart, 
the  hearts  of  all  the  main  actors  in  it  are  laid  bare  with 
exceptional  completeness. 

The  aim  of  the  present  biography  is,  therefore,  to  deal 
with  the  more  personal  aspects  of  the  Marian  period,  and 
to  deal  with  them  apart  from  ecclesiastical  prepossessions, 
and  on  the  understanding  that  the  praise  and  blame  of  the 
twentieth  century  are  not  quite  applicable  to  the  sixteenth. 
Indeed,  the  more  the  present  writer  has  concerned  himself 
with  the  career  of  Mary  Stuart,  the  more  has  he  been 
impressed  with  the  inapplicability  to  it,  in  the  strict  sense, 
of  praise  or  blame.  Whatever  may  be  the  rights  or  wrongs 
of  Protestantism  or  Catholicism,  Mary  appears  to  have 
been  very  largely  the  mere  victim  of  a  bitter  religious 
quarrel. 

While  it  has  been  deemed  inadvisable  to  overload  the 
text  with  references  to  authorities,  they  have  been  added 
on  all  the  more  important  and  disputed  points. 

The  importance  of  portraiture  and  other  illustrations 
as  an  aid  to  the  realisation  of  the  past  is  becoming  more 
and  more  recognised  ;  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  special 
attention  devoted  to  this  in  the  present  volumes  will  meet 
with  the  reader's  approval. 

September  nt^th,  1905. 

T.  F.  HENDERSON. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  I 


PAGE 

PREFACE    Y 

CHAPTER  I 

CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  I 

CHAPTER  II 

THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  69 

CHAPTER  III 

THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN   115 

CHAPTER  IV 

SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  I/I 

CHAPTER  V 

HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS  220 

CHAPTER  VI 

MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  252 

CHAPTER  VII 

THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE  303 

ix 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

VOL.  I 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS  {Frotn  a  miniature  by  F.  Clouetat  Windsor  Castle)  Frontispiect 

FACING  PAGE 


THE  SWORD  OF  STATE  OF  SCOTLAND  :  A  PRESENT  FROM  POPE  JULIUS  II.  TO  JAMES  V.  xii 
JAMES  V.  AND  MARY  OF  LORRAINE,  THE  FATHER  AND  MOTHER  OF  MARY  QUEEN 

OF  SCOTS  {After  a  picture  in  the  collection  of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire)    .       .  4 

HENRY  VIII.  {After  the  picture  by  Holbein)   8 

KING  EDWARD  VI.  {After  the  picture  by  Holbein,  formerly  in  the  possession  of  the 

Earl  of  Egremont)      ...........  14 

MARY  OF  LORRAINE,  QUEEN  OF    JAMES  V.  AND    MOTHER  OF   MARY  QUEEN  OF 

SCOTS  {From  the  picture  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery)       ...  20 

LINLITHGOW  PALACE  {From  an  old  print)   28 

THE  CROWN  OF  SCOTLAND   36 

CARDINAL  BEATON  {From  the  picture  at  Holyrood  Palace)       ....  40 

EDWARD  SEYMOUR,  DUKE  OF  SOMERSET  {After  the  picture  by  Holbein)   .       .  52 

STIRLING  CASTLE  {After  a  drawing  by  G.  B.  Campion)  .....  64 
MARY  LIVINGSTONE  {From  the  picture  in  the  possession  of  the  Countess  Dowager 

of  Seafield)   66 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS,  AGED  9  {After  an  engraving  by  F.  Clouet)        .       .  70 

HENRY  II.  OF  FRANCE  {From  a  drawing  after  F.  Clouet)        ....  72 

THE  PALACE  AT  BLOis  {After  a  drawing  by  J.  W.  M.  Turner,  R.A.)     .       .  76 

THE  CARDINAL  OF  LORRAINE  {From  a  Contemporary  engraving)       ...  78 

DIANA  OF  POITIERS  {From  the  drawing  by  F.  Clouet)      .....  80 

MARY  OF  LORRAINE,  QUEEN   OF  JAMES  V.   AND   MOTHER   OF   MARY  QUEEN  OF 

SCOTS  {From  a  drawing  in  the  British  Museum)      .....  90 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS  IN  1559  {From  a  drawing  by  F.  Clouet)           .  loo 

FRANCIS  II.  OF  FRANCE  IN  1560  {From  a  drawing  by  F.  Clouet)    .       .  104 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS  AS  QUEEN  OF  FRANCE  {Bronze  bust  in  the  Louvre)    .  106 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS  AS  OUEEN  OF  FRANCE  {After  an  engraving  by  Cock)  .  108 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS  IN  I560,  AS  A  WIDOW,  WEARING  HER  "  DEUIL  BLANC  " 

{From  a  drawing  after  F.  Clouet)     .       .       .       .       .       .       .  .116 

CATHERINE  DE  MEDICI  IN  1561  {From  an  anonymous  drawing  in  the  Bibliotheque 

Nationale,  Paris)   122 

xi 


xii  LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

MARGARET  OF  VALOis  {Ffont  a  drawing  by  F.  Clouet)     .....  124 

JOHN  KNOX  {From  the  etigraving  in  Beza's  "  Icones  ")    •                             •  130 
MAiTLAND  OF  LETHiNGTON  (Frotn  the  picture  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl  of 

Lauderdale         ............  136 

JAMES  STEWART,  EARL  OF  MORAY  [Frotn  the  picture  at  Holyrood  Palace)       .  146 

FONTAiNEBLEAU  {From  an  old  print)    152 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS,  IN  WlDOW's  DRESS.   AS   QUEEN   OF  FRANCE  {After  an 

engraving  by  Thomas  de  Leu)    .........  160 

HOLYROOD  PALACE,  EDINBURGH  {After  a  drawing  by  Gordon  of  Rothiemay)  .  172 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS  {After  the  picture  by  Mytens  at  St.  James's  Palace)  .  178 

FALKLAND  PALACE  {From  an  old  print)   184 

QUEEN  ELIZABETH  {After  the  picture  by  Zucchero  in  the  collection  of  the  Marquis 

of  Salisbury)   192 

WILLIAM  CECIL,  FIRST  BARON  BURGHLEY,  K.G.  {From  the  picture  attributed  to 

Marc  Gheeraedts  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery)   200 

GEORGE  BUCHANAN  {From  the  picture  by  Francis  Pourbus.  in  the  possession  of 

the  Royal  Society)      ...........  222 

JAMES  HAMILTON,  THIRD  EARL  OF  ARRAN  {From  an  old  engraving)  .  .  226 
ENAMELLED  JEWEL  {Presented  by  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  to  George  Gordon,  fourth 

Earl  of  Huntly)         ...........  234 

MEMENTO  MORI  WATCH  {Presented  by  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  to  Mary  Seton)        .  234 

OLD  ABERDEEN  {From  an  old  print)        ........  238 

DON  CARLOS,  SON  OF  PHILIP  II.  OF  SPAIN  {After  a  painting  by  Sir  Antonio  More)  252 

FRANCIS,  DUKE  OF  GUISE  {From  a  contemporary  engraving)    ....  258 

PHILIP  II.,  KING  OF  SPAIN  {After  an  engraving  by  Cock)   268 

AMBROSE  DUDLEY,  EARL  OF  WARWICK  {After  the  picturc  in  the  collection  of  the 

Marquis  of  Salisbury)       ..........  272 

CHARLES  IX.  IN  1570  {From  a  drawing  by  F.  Clouet)   278 

ROBERT  DUDLEY,  EARL  OF  LEICESTER  {After  the  picture  in  the  collection  of 

the  Marquis  of  Salisbury)   292 

ST.  ANDREWS  {From  an  old  print)    .........  298 

MATTHEW  STEWART,  EARL  OF  LENNOX,  REGENT  OF  SCOTLAND  {After  the  picture 

in  the  Royal  Collection)   304 

HENRY  STEWART,  LORD  DARNLEY  {From  the  picture  in  the  collection  of  the  late 

Earl  of  Seaforth)   306 

LADY  MARGARET   DOUGLAS,  COUNTESS  OF    LENNOX,  MOTHER  OF  LORD  DARNLEY 

{After  a  picture  formerly  in  the  possession  of  Lord  Carteret)  330 

SETON  HOUSE  {From  a  print  in  the  British  Museum)   334 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS  AND  LORD  DARNLEY  {After  a  print  by  R.  Elstrake)    .  338 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS  {From  the  picture  at  the  Hermitage,  St.  Petersburg)        .  352 


THE  SWORD  OF  STATE  OF  SCOTLAND. 
A  present  from  Pope  Julius  II.  to  James  V. 


MARY   QUEEN   OF  SCOTS 


CHAPTER  I 

CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS— third  and  only  surviving 
child,  and  the  only  daughter,  of  James  V.  of  Scot- 
land and  Mary  of  Lorraine — was  born  in  the  Palace  of 
Linlithgow,  either  on  October  7th  or  8th,  1542/  The 
birth  took  place  at  a  very  dark  crisis  of  Scottish  history. 
Abashed  by  the  humiliating  disaster  of  Solway  Moss,  and 
perturbed  by  bodeful  expectancy  of  what  might  follow  it, 
the  spirit  of  the  Scottish  nation  had  sunk  to  an  exceptional 
depth  of  dejection.  Yet  the  birth  was,  whether  the  nation 
realised  it  or  not,  a  mitigation  of  the  disaster. 

To  Henry  VIII.,  then  apparently  purposing  the  annexa- 
tion of  Scotland,  either  by  violence  or  guile,  the  birth 
could  hardly  have  been  welcome,  and  it  must  have  been 
less  gratifying  after  he  learned  of  the  death  of  James  V. 
Had  no  immediate  heir  to  the  throne,  in  the  senior  line, 

^  The  8th  was  kept  as  the  official  birthday ;  but  Chalmers,  in  his  Life  of 
Mary^  gives  as  authority  for  the  7th  the  Register  of  the  official  of  Lothian  ; 
and  the  7th  is  the  date  given  by  Bishop  Leslie,  who  had  special  access  to 
official  documents,  and  by  Holinshed.  Knox  gives  the  8th,  probably  because 
he  knew  that  it  was  Mary's  custom  to  celebrate  the  8th ;  but  if  the  birth 
happened  late  on  the  7th,  there  was  a  strong  temptation  to  make  the  8th  the 
birth-date,  since  it  was  the  festival  of  the  Conception  of  the  Virgin  Mary. 

VOL.   I.  I 


2 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


been  born,  the  peril  of  Scotland's  annexation  by  Henry 
would  have  been  even  greater  than  it  was  :  the  groundless 
rumours  that  were  current  as  to  the  birth  and  the  child's 
illness,  are  a  sufficient  evidence  of  the  English  hope  that 
the  Scottish  throne  might  be  left,  in  a  manner,  vacant. 

Some  days  before  the  birth  happened,  it  was  reported 
to  have  occurred  prematurely.  The  first  rumour  was  that 
the  child  was  a  son  ;  then  it  was  said  to  be  a  daughter, 
but  not  like  to  live  ;  later  it  was  declared  to  have  died  ; 
but  although  on  the  19th  Sir  George  Douglas  was  able 
to  report  that  it  was  both  alive  and  likely  to  live,^  Chapnys, 
the  imperial  ambassador  in  London,  was  on  the  23rd 
writing  to  the  Queen  of  Hungary  that  both  mother  and 
child  were  very  ill  and  despaired  of  by  the  physician.- 

The  importance  of  the  birth  was  incalculably  enhanced 
by  the  death,  within  seven  days  afterwards,  of  James  V.  at 
Falkland  Palace,  where,  a  few  days  before  the  birth,  he 
had  taken  to  his  bed.  The  variety  of  dates  assigned  to 
his  death  is  partly  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
the  occurrence  was  for  a  time  concealed  from  the  nation  ; 
but  Sir  George  Douglas,  who  had  the  information  from 
a  servant,  was  probably  correct  in  stating  that  he  died  on 
Thursday  at  12  o'clock  at  night,  although  he  wrongly 
supposed  that  Thursday  was  the  15th  instead  of  the  14th 
of  the  month. ^ 

From  an  early  period  of  his  illness  the  King's  mind 
had  been  affected.  His  nerves  were  highly  strung,  and 
when  the  disaster  occurred  he  was  apparently  so  ill  as 

^  See  Haniilto7i  Papers,  i.  323,  328,  337,  340,  342. 
2  Spa7iish  State  Papers^  vi.  (ii.)  No.  87. 

'  Ha7nilton  Papers,  i.  339.  Chalmers  (MSS.  in  the  University  of  Edin- 
burgh) gives  as  authorities  for  the  14th  the  Register  of  Lothian,  the  Household 
Book,  and  the  tombstone. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND 


to  be  unable  to  accompany  the  army.  There  is  no  proof 
that  he  was  a  mere  craven-hearted  sentimentalist  ;  but,  on 
account  of  his  illness,  the  disaster  completely  upset  his 
mental  balance,  and  Douglas,  on  the  authority  of  his 
servant,  who  was  present  with  the  King,  reported  that 
from  the  time  he  took  to  his  bed,  he  did  rage  and  crye 
out,  and  spake  but  fewe  wysse  wordes."  ^  Having  taken 
to  his  bed  on  the  6th  of  the  month,  he  was  in  the  full 
grasp  of  the  fever,  or  of  the  mental  alienation,  before  a 
messenger  arrived  from  Linlithgow  with  tidings  of  the 
Queen's  delivery  of  a  daughter.  Had  the  child  been  a  son 
the  news  might  have  given  him  some  comfort,  but  that  it 
was  a  daughter  seemed  but  the  climax  of  his  misfortunes. 

The  King,"  writes  Lindsay  of  Pitscottie,  inquyred 
whidder  it  was  a  man  or  woman.  The  messinger  said  it 
was  ane  fair  dochter.  The  King  answered  and  said, 
*  Fairweill,  it  cam  with  ane  las  and  it  will  pas  with  ane 
las  ' :  and  so  he  commendit  himselff  to  the  Almightie  God, 
and  spak  litle  from  thenforth,  but  turned  his  back  to  his 
lordes,  and  his  face  to  the  wall."^ 

The  forebodings  of  the  dying  King  were  not  to  be 
fulfilled  ;  for  though  in  their  efforts  against  Mary's  sove- 
reignty the  Protestants  finally  succeeded,  the  sceptre  of 
Scotland  did  not  then  pass  from  the  Stewarts.  On  the 
contrary,  Mary's  son,  James  VL,  by  ascending  the  throne 
of  England,  was  to  be  the  fated  agent  in  accomplishing 
the  great  political  purpose  which  was  then  baffling  the 
wit  and  might  of  Henry  VIII.  Nevertheless,  the  King  s 
forebodings  that  exceptional  misfortunes  would  await  his 
daughter  were  fully  justified.  Almost  from  the  earliest 
moments  of  her  existence,  she  became  an  object  of  dire 
1  Hamilton  Papers^  i.  340.  ^  Chro7iicle,  ii.  406. 


4 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


conflict  and  contention,  and  even  what  her  immediate 
fate  might  be  seemed  to  hang  in  very  uncertain  balances. 

Among  the  more  potent  personages  to  whom  her 
future  was  a  subject  of  intimate  concern,  a  first  place  must 
be  assigned  to  the  portentous  Henry  VIII.,  the  most 
strenuous  and  self-willed  personality  of  Europe,  and  at 
this  juncture  conscientiously  bent  on  the  appropriation  of 
her  kingdom.  Nor  could  Henry's  great  adversary.  Pope 
Paul  III.,  nor  his  chief  political  rival,  the  accomplished 
and  dissipated  Francis  I.  of  France,  be  oblivious  to  the 
issues  dependent  on  the  infant's  fate,  although  their  inter- 
ference in  the  great  intrigue  was  meanwhile  of  a  more 
obscure  and  indirect  character  than  that  of  Henry.  For  the 
results  they  might  be  able  to  achieve,  Henry,  Paul,  and 
Francis  were  also  largely  dependent  on  the  purposes  of  Scot- 
tish notabilities  who  had  their  own  particular  ends  to  serve. 

Arran,  recognised  as  next  heir  to  the  Crown,  though  his 
claims  were,  on  account  of  asserted  bastardy,  disputed  by 
Lennox,  became,  as  Regent,  a  person  of  high  official  conse- 
quence. He  desired,  if  he  could,  to  turn  the  providential 
opportunity  to  account  for  the  advancement  of  his  house, 
and  nothing  could  have  gratified  him  more  than  the  betrothal 
of  the  infant  sovereign  to  his  own  son  and  heir ;  but  he 
was  constitutionally  unfit,  however  nominally  high  his 
position,  for  any  hazardous  adventure.  His  wits  were  so 
limited,  and  so  mild  and  facile  was  his  temper,  that  he  had 
no  distinct  individual  influence,  and  was  bound  to  become 
the  mere  tool  of  subtler  and  more  resolute  plotters. 

It  was  as  the  tool  of  others  that  Arran  was  a  formidable 
opponent  of  Henry's  scheme  ;  but,  unlike  Arran,  the  Queen- 
Dowager  was  exceptionally  fitted  for  playing  her  own 
game,  though  her  peculiar  gifts  were  as  yet  unascertained. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  5 


Probably  alone  amongst  the  intriguers  unselfishly  devoted  to 
the  infant's  welfare,  she  could  not  be  expected  to  favour 
the  ambitious  hopes  of  a  mere  noble  like  Arran  ;  and, 
apart  from  its  worldly  advantages,  she  was  not  likely  to 
be  biased  towards  the  marriage  to  a  son  of  the  heretic 
Henry  VIII.  The  eldest  child  of  Claude,  Count  and 
afterwards  Duke  of  Guise,  and  also,  before  her  Scottish 
marriage,  the  widow  of  Louis  of  Orleans,  second  Duke  of 
Longueville,  her  sympathies  were  necessarily  with  the 
French  and  Catholic  party.  That  Henry's  proposals  offered 
no  temptation  to  her  is,  however,  by  no  means  certain  ; 
but  in  any  case  she  had  meantime  to  dissimulate  her 
preferences,  and  to  remain  outwardly  almost  as  impassive 
to  the  designs  of  others  as  was  her  helpless  infant. 

Next  to  Arran  and  the  Queen-Dowager  in  official 
power,  but  much  more  to  be  reckoned  with  than  either, 
was  Cardinal  Beaton,  the  virtual  prime  minister  and  more 
of  the  late  King,  and  the  main  director  of  the  policy 
which  had  resulted  in  the  Solway  disaster.  This  powerful 
prelate  was,  even  for  his  own  time,  a  quite  notable 
specimen  of  the  secular  ecclesiastic.  No  such  astonishing 
development  of  worldly  ecclesiasticism  is  perhaps  now 
possible,  and  amongst  the  ambitious  ecclesiastics  of  that 
exceptional  age  Beaton  occupied  a  high  pre-eminence.  Like 
many  great  prelates  of  his  time,  he  lived  in  open  violation 
of  his  priestly  vows  of  chastity  ;  but  he  violated  them 
with  as  much  decorous  restraint  as  if  he  had  been  the 
husband  of  one  wife,  and,  it  may  be,  was  quite  faithful 
to  the  lady  who  had  won  his  affections.  Nor  could  there 
have  been  any  prelate  more  resolutely  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  the  Catholic  Church  as  he  understood  them  ; 
but,  whilst  he  was  more  or  less  the  slave  of  ecclesiastical 


6  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


fetichism,  his  inordinate  conceptions  of  priestly  power  had 
a  strong  secular  colouring,  so  that  practically  in  his  eyes 
the  Church  was  hardly  more  than  a  Divine  institution  for 
gratifying  the  pride  and  ministering  to  the  avarice  of  the 
higher  ecclesiastics.  His  face  indicates  polish  and  refine- 
ment rather  than  coarseness  ;  but  though  also  full  of 
intelligence,  the  expression  is  disdainful,  and  there  are 
indications  of  temper,  if  not  of  cruelty. 

Haughty  and  ambitious,  and  contemptuous  of  his 
intellectual  and  social  inferiors,  he  viewed  the  spread  of 
heresy  among  the  friars  and  common  people  with  aristocratic 
contempt,  and  punished  it  with  much  the  same  lofty  rigour 
as  that  exercised  by  the  secular  justice  against  the  crime  of 
deer-stealing.  But,  possessed  of  a  tireless  and  dauntless 
energy,  and  an  expert  in  unscrupulous  craft,  he  was,  by  the 
aid  of  his  ecclesiastical  position,  by  far  the  most  formidable 
opponent  that  Henry  had  in  Scotland,  and  much  more 
than  a  match  for  the  half-hearted  band  of  Scottish  nobles 
which  Henry,  by  mingled  bribes  and  threats,  had  lured  into 
his  service.  The  triumph  of  his  diplomacy  over  that  of 
Henry  was  inevitable,  for,  in  addition  to  his  great  talents 
and  his  ecclesiastical  prestige,  he  had,  owing  ro  the  over- 
weening assumption  of  Henry,  the  peculiar  advantage  of 
posing  as  a  devoted  and  high-minded  patriot. 

Of  the  sincerity,  and  even  fanaticism,  of  his  patriotism 
there  can  hardly  be  more  doubt  than  of  that  of  the  majority 
of  his  fellow-Scots  ;  but,  in  his  efforts  to  thwart  Henry,  his 
patriotism  was  largely  the  slave  of  his  ecclesiasticism.  That 
Henry  was  seeking  to  tamper  with  the  ancient  independence 
of  Scotland  was  perhaps  cause  enough,  in  itself,  to  rouse 
the  resistance  of  Beaton  to  his  policy  ;  but  any  terms  that 
might  have  been  proposed  for  a  union  of  the  two  kingdoms 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  7 


would  have  been  strenuously  opposed  by  Beaton  so  long  as 
they  implied  alliance  with  a  king  at  feud  with  Rome  ; 
while,  had  Henry  appeared  in  the  guise  of  a  Catholic 
deliverer  to  a  Scotland  infected  with  heresy,  Beaton,  on 
almost  any  terms,  would,  we  must  suppose,  have  welcomed 
him  with  open  arms.  Yet,  matters  being  as  they  were, 
Beaton  was  the  means  of  rendering  priceless  service  to  his 
country  in  a  political  crisis  of  exceptional  gravity  ;  for  the 
aims  of  Henry,  though  in  some  respects  well  meant,  were 
vitiated  by  his  too  passionate  impatience,  and  his  too  lofty 
contempt  for  Scottish  national  sentiment. 

The  main  direct  opponent  of  the  Cardinal  in  Scotland 
was  Henry's  agent,  Sir  George  Douglas,  brother  of  the 
Earl  of  Angus.  Both  in  boldness  and  subtlety,  Douglas 
was  more  than  the  equal  of  the  Cardinal.  The  part  he  had 
to  play,  being  that  of,  in  a  manner,  bamboozling  at  once 
Henry,  Arran,  and  the  Cardinal,  was  an  almost  impossible 
one  ;  but  in  playing  it  he  showed  a  fertility  of  resource 
suggestive  of  wizardry.  Like  Angus,  he  really  wished  to 
do  his  best  to  oblige  the  English  King,  who  for  many 
years  had  sheltered  the  two  from  the  wrath  of  James  V. 
He  was  driven  to  deceive  and  bamboozle  Henry,  simply  by 
the  unreasonable  character  of  Henry's  demands.  Not- 
withstanding the  rivalry  of  the  Douglases  with  the  royal 
house  of  Stewart,  and  their  consequent  alliances  with  England, 
even  they  were  not  without  a  tincture  of  patriotic  prejudice, 
and  by  no  means  relished  the  brutal  attitude  of  Henry 
towards  their  country.  The  task  which  Henry  sought  to 
impose  on  them  was  really  an  impossible  one  ;  and  on  this 
account  alone  they  had  hardly  other  option  than  to  plot  for 
a  modification  of  its  stringency,  even  if  they  had  not  had 
chiefly  at  heart  their  own  rehabihtation  in  Scotland. 


8 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Finally,  a  good  deal  was  to  depend  on  the  Earl  of 
Lennox,  though  more  in  the  remote  future  than  in  the 
immediate  present.  Recalled  by  the  Cardinal  from  France, 
where  he  had  been  in  the  service  of  the  French  king, 
he  was,  on  account  of  his  claims  against  Arran  for  the 
next  heirship  to  the  Scottish  Crown,  to  play  a  part  of  high 
importance  as  the  tool  of  the  Cardinal  ;  and,  after  the 
Cardinal  had  cast  him  off,  he  was  to  become  the  tool 
of  Henry  VIII.  But,  admirable  soldier  though  he  was,  and 
a  great  proficient  in  manly  exercises,  he  was  not  fitted  by 
nature  to  shine  much  more  brilUantly  than  his  rival  Arran 
as  a  politicial  diplomatist ;  and  he  was  mainly  to  be  reckoned 
with  after  his  marriage  to  the  ardent  and  irrepressible 
Lady  Margaret  Douglas,  daughter  of  Angus  and  the  Queen- 
Dowager,  Margaret  Tudor.  The  great  results  of  that 
marriage  were  as  yet  unforeseen,  but  it  was  to  have  a 
more  vital  effect  on  the  relationships  between  the  two 
countries  than  either  the  unprincipled  intrigues  of  Henry 
or  the  savage  exhibitions  of  his  unbridled  wrath. 

As  regards  the  immediate  politicial  outlook  in  Scotland, 
the  death  of  James  V.  was  fortunate  rather  than  otherwise, 
for  it  induced  Henry  to  suspend  active  operations  against 
it  when  it  was  very  much  at  his  mercy,  and  to  seek,  in 
the  first  instance,  to  compass  by  guile  what  he  had  purposed 
to  win  by  force  of  arms.  Instead  of  proceeding  to  the 
immediate  conquest  or  chastisement  of  Scotland,  he  now 
proposed  to  effect  the  transference  of  its  government  to 
himself,  through  a  proposal  for  the  betrothal  of  the  infant 
Queen  to  his  only  son  Prince  Edward.  There  was  of 
course  the  difficulty  of  Henry's  quarrel  with  the  Pope  ; 
but  by  many  of  the  Scottish  nobles  a  close  alliance  with 
such  a  flaunting  heretic,  and  such  a  bridler  of  ecclesiastical 


HENRY  VIII. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  $ 


arrogance  as  Henry,  was  hardly  regarded  with  horror. 
They  were  already,  many  of  them,  weary  of  the  yoke 
of  Beaton  and  other  ambitious  ecclesiastics,  even  if 
most  of  them  were  yet  untainted  by  the  new  doctrines  ; 
while  the  prospect  of  a  union  of  the  kingdoms  was  already 
a  by  no  means  unwelcome  idea  to  the  more  enlightened 
Scots.  There  was  nothing  in  itself  abhorrent  in  the  pro- 
posal of  Henry  to  the  principal  nobles  taken  prisoners  at 
Solway,  that  they  should  do  their  utmost  to  effect  the 
betrothal  of  the  young  Queen  to  his  son  Prince  Edward. 
To  them  and  to  Scotland  there  was  even  in  the  pro- 
position a  certain  specious  air  of  magnanimity.  Yet  it 
scarcely  veiled  the  real  character  of  his  intentions — the 
virtual  seizure  of  the  Scottish  government. 

That  Henry's  purpose  could  then,  even  in  opposition 
to  the  efforts  of  the  Cardinal  and  the  churchmen,  have 
been  accomplished  by  methods  which  would  not  have  done 
violence  to  Scottish  susceptibilities,  was  perhaps  impossible  ; 
but  his  best  chance  of  success  was  by  endeavouring  to 
offend  these  susceptibilities  as  little  as  he  could. 

But  besides  that  Henry  had  never  learned  to  curb  or 
temper  his  strong  desires,  he  was  probably  convinced  that 
he  had  no  choice  of  methods — that  the  only  adequate 
guarantee  of  the  marriage  and  the  union  was  the  immediate 
possession  of  the  Queen  and  Scotland.  His  providential 
capture  of  so  many  Scottish  nobles  afforded  him,  he  thought, 
an  exceptional  chance  of  effecting  his  purpose,  and  he  was 
resolved  to  make  the  most  of  it.  This  was  all  very  good 
from  his  point  of  view,  but  what  he  demanded  of  the 
nobles  was  of  course  shameful  treachery  to  their  country. 
It  is  but  a  sorry  excuse  for  them,  that  when  they  con- 
sented to  the  bargain  they  were  wholly  at  his  mercy  ;  of 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


more  relevancy  was  the  consideration  that  he  was  really 
proposing  to  them  the  impossible,  and  that  on  their  arrival 
in  Scotland  the  force  of  circumstances  would  compel  him 
to  modify  his  demands. 

The  treachery  now  mentioned  the  nobles  were  asked 
to  perform  openly.  Henry  calculated  that,  if  willing, 
they,  with  the  co-operation  of  Angus,  had  sufficient  power 
to  compel  the  accomplishment  of  his  wishes.  They  were 
therefore,  on  their  arrival  in  Scotland,  publicly  to  demand 
the  delivery  of  the  child  to  Henry's  guardianship,  and 
the  transference  of  the  principal  fortresses  to  his  keeping  ; 
and  should  those  comprehensive  requests  be  refused,  they 
were  to  effect  Henry's  purpose  by  force.  In  addition  to 
this,  ten  of  the  principal  prisoners  signed  a  secret  article 
by  which,  in  the  case  of  the  child's  decease,  they  promised 
to  aid  Henry  to  the  best  of  their  power  in  taking  ^'  the 
whole  rule,  dominion  and  government  of  Scotland  upon 
him "  ;  and  the  Earl  of  Angus,  by  a  separate  article, 
undertook  to  aid  Henry  in  this,  whether  Henry  obtained 
the  guardianship  of  the  child  or  not,  or  whatever  fate 
might  befall  her.^ 

It  so  happened,  however,  that  the  astute  Sir  George 
Douglas  had  not  been  asked  to  sign  any  of  the  articles. 
His  brother  Angus  had  signed  them  without  consulting 
with  him,  and  Lisle  perceived  that  Sir  George  was  verye 
angrye  in  his  mynde  "  on  learning  that  his  brother  had 
done  so,  without  representing  to  the  King  the  imprudence 
of  imposing  an  agreement  on  him  which  could  hardly 
be  kept  secret,  and  if  known  would  do  much  mischief  in 
Scotland.^    This  could  only  mean  that  Sir  George  deemed 


^  Hamilton  Papers,  i.  374-6. 


3  Ibid.,  i.  390. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND 


Henry's  policy  impossible.  If  Angus  was  resolved  to 
fulfil  his  oaths  to  the  letter,  Sir  George  had  hardly  other 
option  than  to  support  him  ;  but  then  Angus  was  entirely 
under  the  influence  of  the  much  cleverer  and  more  resolute 
Sir  George,  and  Sir  George,  being  bound  by  no  oaths, 
felt  himself  free  to  do  his  utmost  to  modify,  and  in  a 
sense  to  thwart,  the  policy  of  Henry,  in  the  interests  at 
once  of  Henry,  the  Douglases,  and  Scotland. 

His  strength  in  thwarting  Henry  lay  in  his  plea  of 
non  possumus.  The  Solway  nobles  could  do  nothing 
without  the  support  of  their  followers  ;  and  in  his  first 
interview  with  Henry's  ambassador.  Sir  Ralph  Sadler, 
Sir  George  affirmed  that  if  we  shoulde  go  about  to  take 
the  Governour  from  his  state,  and  to  bring  the  obedience 
of  this  realme  to  Englonde  .  .  .  there  is  not  so  lytle  a 
boy  but  he  woll  hurle  stones  ayenst  it,  the  wyves  woll  com 
out  with  their  distaffes,  and  the  comons  unyversally  woll 
rather  dye  in  it."  ^  Further,  the  Solway  nobles  could 
plead  that  before  their  arrival  in  Scotland,  a  Governor  of 
Scotland  had  already  been  chosen,  and  that  Henry's  best 
chance  of  securing  his  purpose  was  by  peaceful  negotiation 
through  the  Governor. 

There  has  been  some  obscurity  as  to  the  time  and 
manner  of  Arran's  succession  to  the  regency.  As  the 
nearest  heir  to  the  throne  after  the  infant,  he  had  a  legal 
claim  to  the  governorship  of  the  kingdom,  while  the 
guardianship  of  the  child  fell  to  her  mother,  as  her  nearest 
female  relative  ;  but,  on  December  i8th,  Lisle  learned  from 
Sir  George  Douglas  that  the  gret  men  of  Scotland,"  who 
were  then  convened  in  Edinburgh,  intended  to  choose 
four  governors  of  the  realm — Arran,  Moray,  Huntly,  and 
'  Hamilton  Pape?'s,  i.  477. 


12 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Argyll — and  the  Cardinall  to  be  governer  of  the  Prencys 
and  cheyfF  rewler  of  the  cownsell."  ^ 

On  December  2ist  he  further  wrote  that  the  above 
arrangement  had  been  willed  by  the  King  on  his  deathbed  ; 
and  on  December  24th  he  announced  that  on  the  previous 
Tuesday  (the  19th)  proclamation  had  been  made  at 
Edinburgh  that  all  men  sholde  be  obydient  unto  "  the 
persons  named  "  as  the  only  governors  of  the  realme,"  etc. 
Yet  on  January  5th  he  was  able  to  report  that  Arran  had, 
on  the  jrd,  been  proclaimed  Protector  and  Governor  of 
Scotland.^  According  to  Knox,  this  latter  proclamation  was 
authorised  by  a  convention  of  the  nobility  specially  called 
by  Arran,  and  the  decision  was  arrived  at  in  despite  of 
the  Cardinal.^ 

It  was  also,  after  the  Cardinal's  imprisonment,  confirmed 
by  the  Parliament  which  met  on  March  17  th,  certain 
noblemen  being  at  the  same  time  nominated  as  keepers 
of  the  Quene's  grace."  *  Disagreeing  in  regard  to  minor 
details,  contemporary  writers,  such  as  Knox,  Buchanan, 
Lindsay  of  Pitscottie,  and  Bishop  Leslie,  fully  corroborate 
the  testimony  of  Lisle  that  the  Cardinal  made  a  bold 
but  futile  attempt  to  oust  Arran  from  his  legal  right  to 
the  regency,  by  adducing,  for  another  arrangement,  the 
authority  of  the  late  King  on  his  deathbed.  Lisle  further 
reported  that  Arran,  in  protesting  against  the  attempt, 
had  not  scrupled  to  term  the  Cardinal  a  "  false  churle."  ^ 

The  only  question,  therefore,  remaining  for  considera- 
tion is  whether  the  Cardinal  intrepidly  rested  his  case 
on  his  own  report  of  the  King's  statement  to  himself,  or 

^  Hamilton  Papers.^  i.  340.  *  Ibid.,  i.  345,  346,  360. 

'  Works,  ed.  Laing,  i.  93-4.  ^  Acta  Pari.  Scot.,  ii.  414. 

^  Hamilton  Papers,  i.  349. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  13 

on  a  written  document  to  which  the  King's  signature  was 
attached.  There  is  abundant  testimony  to  the  effect 
that  Beaton  produced  a  supposed  will  ;  and  the  statement 
of  Buchanan  that  he  forged  a  will  by  the  aid  of  a  priest, 
Henry  Balfour,  has  been  so  far  confirmed  by  the  discovery 
at  Hamilton  of  an  instrument  signed  by  Henry  Balfour, 
and  narrating  that  James  V.  had  appointed  Beaton,  Moray, 
Huntly,  and  Argyll  to  act  as  tutors  testamentary  to  the 
Princess  and  also  as  Governors  of  the  kingdom.^  The 
instrument  of  Balfour  was  of  course  of  no  legal  efHcacy 
unless  supported  by  an  actual  will  ;  it  was  only  a  warrant 
for  the  existence  of  a  will,  and  in  all  probability  was  sent 
to  Arran  as  the  warrant  for  the  Cardinal's  proclamation.^ 
The  omission  of  Arran' s  name  from  the  document  is  in 
agreement  with  a  statement  of  Knox,  and  is  apparently 
referred  to  in  a  letter  of  Henry  VIII.  to  Sadler.  Can 
youe  think,"  he  advises  Sadler  to  say  to  Arran,  "  that 
youe  shal  contynue  a  Governour  when  thadverse  partie 
that  wold  have  made  themselfes  by  a  forged  will  regentes 
with  youe,  or  rather  excluded  youe^  shall  have  auc  tori  tie."  ^ 

The  only  excuse  for  Beaton's  unwarrantable  use  of 
the  King's  name  is  that  he  was  probably  convinced  that 
the  King  would  have  coincided  with  him  as  to  Arran's 
unfitness,  at  such  a  perilous  crisis,  to  have  charge  of  the 

'  Hist.  MSS.  Report,  Appendix,  part  vi.  pp.  219-20. 

^  It  is  impossible  here  to  discuss  fully  the  curious  theory  of  Mr.  Lang 
{History  of  Scotland,  i.  467  sq.)  that  this  document  may  have  been  a 
forgery  of  Arran.  Suffice  it  to  state  that  Arran  was  no  more  likely  to  be 
guilty  of  a  forgery  than  Beaton  ;  that  Beaton  could  have  no  warrant  for 
his  proposal  unless  he  could  adduce  evidence  of  the  King's  wishes  ;  and  that 
Arran's  case  was  that  the  evidence,  on  account  of  the  condition  of  the  King's 
mind,  must  be  false. 

3  Hafnilton  Papers,  i.  527, 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


government.  A  strong  man — in  the  interests  both  of 
Catholicism  and  the  country's  independence — was  required 
for  a  position  of  such  overwhelming  difficulty  ;  and  we 
need  not,  therefore,  impute  it  altogether  to  personal 
ambition,  that  Beaton  deemed  it  advisable  to  neutralise 
the  weakness  and  pliancy  of  Arran  by  causing  him  to 
share  the  great  responsibility  with  other  four  persons,  in- 
cluding Beaton.  But  Beaton,  by  the  means  employed  by 
him  to  secure  his  purpose,  only  revived  the  old  jealousy 
of  the  nobles  at  his  interference  in  the  government,  and 
their  suspicion  that  he  was  seeking  by  fraud  to  retain 
his  old  ascendancy. 

In  addition  to  this,  not  only  had  the  Solway  disaster 
placed  his  political  reputation  under  a  cloud,  but  by 
confirming  him  in  the  high  position  to  which  he  aspired, 
the  nobles  would  have  provoked  the  special  indignation 
of  Henry.  The  open  quarrel  between  Beaton  and  Arran 
was  perhaps  the  only  thing  that  could  have  reconciled 
Henry,  even  for  a  time,  to  tolerate  Arran  as  Governor. 
Henry's  real  aim  was  to  obtain  his  own  recognition  as 
Governor  and  Protector  of  Scotland,  and  he  was  by  no 
means  pleased  that,  without  his  sanction,  a  Governor  had 
been  chosen  ;  but  a  Scottish  Governor  at  loggerheads 
with  Beaton,  might  be  a  convenient  medium  for  the  attain- 
ment of  his  purpose. 

The  Solway  nobles  found  in  the  fact  that  a  Regent 
had  been  chosen,  a  convenient  excuse  for  the  modification 
of  their  methods  of  implementing  their  promises  to  Henry. 
The  fortresses  could  not  be  delivered  into  Henry's 
hands,  nor  the  young  Queen  transferred  to  his  keeping 
without  a  revolution  ;  while,  owing  to  the  feud  between 
the  Regent  and  Beaton,  Henry  might  be  able  to  obtain 


After  the  picture  by  Holbein,  formerly  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl  of  Egremont. 

KING  EDWARD  VI, 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  15 


the  substance  of  his  desires  through  negotiation.  Having 
also  been  compelled  to  break  with  the  Cardinal,  Arran 
was  largely  dependent  on  the  Solway  lords  and  Angus  for 
support,  and  was  induced,  notwithstanding  his  own  private 
ambitions,  to  represent  himself  as  friendly  to  the  English 
marriage. 

Negotiations,  therefore,  now  assumed  the  form  of  an 
endeavour  at  a  compromise,  all  parties  in  Scotland  being, 
through  the  diplomacy  of  Sir  George  Douglas,  induced 
to  combine  either  to  baffle  or  delude  Henry,  or  to  obtain 
an  arrangement  which  would  guard  the  country's  inde- 
pendence. Necessarily  those  inclined  to  the  new  heresy 
were  prepared  to  go  very  far  in  meeting  Henry's  wishes. 
Others,  opposed  to  the  worldly  predominance  of  Beaton 
and  the  ecclesiastics,  were  inclined  to  favour  Henry's 
matrimonial  scheme,  provided  the  independence  of  the 
country  were  secured  ;  whilst  even  the  most  devoted 
adherents  of  Beaton  had  little  stomach  for  a  continuance 
of  the  war.  There  was  thus  now  manifested  towards 
Henry,  on  the  part  of  the  Scots,  a  very  deceptive  kind 
of  friendliness  ;  but  for  the  lack  of  sincerity  in  much  of 
their  pretence,  and  the  steadfast  efforts  of  many  to  beguile 
him,  Henry  had  chiefly  to  thank  the  extremely  arrogant 
character  of  his  original  demands. 

Sir  George  Douglas,  on  whom  Henry  mainly  depended 
for  the  accomplishment  of  his  sinister  purposes,  thus  be- 
came the  chief  agent  in  their  frustration.  It  was  at  his 
instance  that  Henry  had  arranged  terms  with  the  English 
prisoners  ;  but  he  far  from  approved  of  the  terms  that 
had  been  arranged,  and  when  asked  to  repair  to  Scotland 
to  aid  Henry's  scheme,  he  wrote  to  Parr:  "Good  my 
lord,  this  is  no  small  hording  that  is  laid  upon  my  balk^ 


i6  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


and  I  ame  very  waike  to  accomplishe  the  same."^ 
Nothing  could,  in  fact,  be  accomplished  except  by  greatly 
lightening  it. 

Therefore,  although  Henry,  on  learning  of  the  pro- 
clamation of  Arran  as  Regent,  sent,  on  January  8th, 
instructions  that  the  Solway  nobles  should  at  once  co- 
operate with  Bothwell  and  Huntly  in  getting  possession  of 
the  child  and  seizing  the  fortresses,  the  first  endeavour 
of  Douglas  was  to  induce  Henry  to  forego  the  realisation 
of  both  of  these  aims.  He  consequently  got  Arran  to 
dispatch  him,  on  January  i8th,  with  a  letter  to  Henry's 
agent.  Lisle,  in  which  Arran  was  made  to  express  a  zealous 
desire  by  "  the  grace  and  help  of  God,"  to  "  put  sum 
reformatioun  in  the  stait  of  kirk  of  this  realme  to  the 
honour  of  God,  furtht  setting  of  his  trew  worde,"  etc.,  and, 
for  this  most  godly  end,  asked  Henry  for  a  safe-conduct 
for  certain  ambassadors  he  proposed  to  send  to  him. 

Whatever  may  have  been  Arran' s  antecedent  bias 
towards  the  new  doctrines,  the  sequel  was  to  show  that 
he  was  more  concerned  in  retaining  the  Regency  than  in 
the  setting  forth  of  God's  "Holy  Word."  As  for 
Douglas,  he  made  no  profession  of  religious  zeal.  Asked 
by  Beaton  "whether  he  was  a  good  Cristean  man  or  not, 
or  whather  he  was  gyven  to  the  new  lerning  after  the  fassion 
of  England  or  not? "  he  replied  "  that  he  was  cristened,  and 
if  he  were  not  a  good  Cristean  man,  he  praid  God  to 
make  hym  one  ;  but,  as  he  thought,  the  best  of  them  two 
might  be  amended,  and  wished  that  the  realme  of  Skotland 
were  no  worse  Cristeans  than  the  realme  of  Englande."  ^ 

At  this  impartial  attitude  the  Cardinal,  we  are  told, 
gave  "  a  great  sighe,"  a  sigh  which  doubtless  represented 
^  Haniilto7i  Papers,  i.  353.  ^  Ibid.,  i.  389, 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  17 


rather  a  political  anxiety  than  any  great  solicitude  for  the 
welfare  of  Douglas's  soul.  Nor  was  his  sigh  without 
justification,  for  Douglas,  having  obtained  from  the  Council 
a  decision  in  favour  of  the  retention  of  his  and  his  brother's 
lands,  now,  with  a  view  of  allaying  Henry's  suspicions 
and  impatience,  decided  on  the  clever  ruse  of  arranging 
with  Arran  for  Beaton's  apprehension,  which  was  accom- 
plished on  January  28th,  while  the  Cardinal  was  sitting  in 
the  Council.  As  Douglas  further  intimated  that  the  arrest 
was  but  a  prelude  to  the  reform  of  "  the  hole  Churche  of 
Scotland  into  the  same  sorte  that  the  Kinges  Majeste  has 
reformed  Inglond,"^  it  was  difficult  to  charge  him  with 
lack  of  enterprise  in  Henry's  service. 

As  early  as  February  13  th,  Suffolk  also  reported  that 
Arran  had  caused  a  sermon  to  be  made  by  a  "  blacke 
friar,"  in  favour  of  the  reform  of  the  abuses  of  the 
Church  and  the  dissemination  of  the  Bible  and  Testament 
in  English  ;  and,  a  little  later,  a  black  friar  was  appointed 
to  preach  the  gospel  alternately  in  the  Abbey  of  Holyrood 
and  the  "great  parish  church."^  The  names  of  the  two 
black  friars  were,  we  learn  from  Knox,  Thomas  William 
and  John  Rough,  whose  preaching  caused  the  Grey  Friars 
to  "  rowp "  as  *'  thei  had  bein  ravinis  :  yea,  rather  thei 
yelled  and  rored  as  devellis  in  Hell  '  Heresy  !  heresy, 
Guylliame  and  Rought  will  cary  the  Governour  to  the 
Deville.' " ' 

Arran  was,  however,  to  be  plucked  as  a  brand  from 
the  burning,  as  soon  as  he  discovered  that  the  support  of 
the  Reformers  was  hostile  to  his  political  interests.  Mean- 
time, he  immediately  discovered  that  mere  Reforming  zeal 

*  Hamilton  Papers^  i.  401.  2  /^/^^     418^  426. 

^  Knox's  Works,  i.  96-7. 
VOL.  I.  2 


i8 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


was  not  enough  for  Henry,  who  instructed  Sadler  to  warn 
Arran  and  the  Scottish  lords  against  sending  ambassadors 
to  him  merely  "with  things  of  entretaynment,"  and  to 
remind  them  of  what  might  ensue  if  it  appeared  that  he 
and  the  lords  went  about  to  trifle  with  him. 

Nevertheless,  the  policy  of  Douglas  was  producing  an 
impression  on  Henry,  who  gradually  became  persuaded 
that  the  immediate  accomplishment  of  his  aims  would 
be  well-nigh  impossible  ;  and,  in  deference  to  susceptibilities 
with  which  he  did  not  profess  to  have  any  sympathy,  he 
was  induced  ostensibly  to  adopt  a  policy  less  fitted  to 
wound  them. 

On  his  arrival  in  Scotland,  Sadler  found  that  the 
Parliament  had  just  ratified  the  governorship  of  Arran, 
and  had  appointed  ambassadors  to  state  to  Henry  the 
terms  on  which  they  were  prepared  to  negotiate  for  a 
marriage.  To  Henry,  who  had  not  even  expected  that 
the  Parliament  was  to  be  assembled,  the  whole  of  this 
news  was  a  very  unpleasant  surprise,  and  he  even  instructed 
Sadler  to  remonstrate  privately  with  Angus,  Douglas  and 
the  Solway  lords  for  permitting  the  parliamentary  ratification 
of  Arran's  governorship. 

This  being  his  frame  of  mind,  the  actual  terms  of  the 
marriage  arrangements,  when  he  came  to  know  them,  must 
have  struck  him  with  sheer  amazement.  Not  to  mention 
various  important,  though  minor,  provisions,  the  am- 
bassadors were  enjoined  to  represent  the  necessity  of  the 
young  Queen  remaining  in  Scotland  until  the  completion 
of  the  marriage  ;  to  refuse  the  delivery  of  "  any  strengths 
of  the  realme  in  pledge  and  securitie  "  ;  and  to  stipulate 
that  Scotland  should  meanwhile,  and  until  the  young  Queen's 
marriage,  continue  to  be  governed  independently  under 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  19 


a  Regent,  and  that  even  after  the  marriage,  it  should  retain 
all  its  ancient  rights  and  privileges.  To  condescend  even 
to  the  formality  of  considering  terms  so  entirely  in  the 
teeth  of  his  bargain  with  Arran  and  the  Solway  lords 
implied  the  intention  of  secretly  persisting  in  his  original 
purpose,  whatever  might  be  the  results  of  the  negotiations  ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  sincerity  of  the  majority  of 
the  Scots  in  promoting  the  negotiations,  was  necessarily 
qualified  by  a  lack  of  faith  in  Henry's  intentions.  In 
fact,  there  was  among  the  Scots  a  kind  of  tacit  conspiracy 
to  delude  Henry,  by  pretended  acquiescence  in  negotiations 
which  were  not  meant  quite  seriously. 

Even  the  Queen-Dowager,  whom  Sadler  was  instructed 
to  visit  in  order  to  desire  her  frankly  in  all  things  to 
open  her  heart  to  him,"  Sadler  found  most  willing  and 
conformable,"  in  appearance,  to  the  King's  purpose  :  not 
only  was  she,  seemingly,  greatly  flattered  by  the  honour 
Henry  proposed  to  do  her  daughter,  but  she  even  advised 
that  Henry  should  stand  fast  **upon  the  point  to  have 
her  delivered  into  his  hands,"  if  he  really  wished  the  mar- 
riage to  take  place,  the  real  purpose  of  Arran  being,  she 
said — truly  enough — to  marry  her  daughter  to  his  own  son. 

To  impress  Sadler  the  more  with  the  sincerity  of  her 
desire  for  the  English  marriage,  she  indicated  anxiety  that 
he  should  send  to  his  master  a  favourable  account  of  the 
young  Queen's  appearance,  and  she  therefore  let  him  see 
for  himself  that  the  infant  was  not  the  weakling  rumour 
had  reported  her  to  be,  but  a  strong,  well-developed  child, 
and  likely  to  prove  a  bride  worthy  of  the  great  destiny 
Henry  was  proposing  for  her.  Taking  him,  therefore, 
into  the  chamber  where  the  child  was,  she  caused  the 
nurse  to  unwound  her  out  of  her  clowtes,"  that  he  might 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


see  her  naked.  1  assure  your  Majesty,"  wrote  Sadler, 
"  it  is  as  goodly  a  child  as  I  have  seen  of  her  age,  and 
as  like  to  live  with  the  grace  of  God."  ^ 

That  the  Queen-Dowager  was  entirely  hostile  to  the 
English  marriage  has  generally  been  taken  for  granted  ;  and 
it  is  certain  that  to  Sir  George  she  expressed  her  anxiety  lest 
the  child  should  be  immediately  delivered  into  England, 
"  because  she  was  too  young  to  be  carried  so  far  "  ;  but  this 
natural  maternal  solicitude  did  not  imply  any  necessary 
hostiUty  to  the  match  ;  and  those  who  can  see  in  her 
conduct  nothing  but  guile  appear  to  forget  that  Francis  II., 
to  whom  her  daughter  was  to  be  married,  was  not  then 
born,  and  that,  at  that  time,  there  was  no  likelihood  of  any 
child  being  born  to  Catherine  de  Medici. 

True,  the  Queen-Dowager  wished  the  liberation  of 
Beaton  ;  as  how,  being  Catholic,  could  she  do  aught  else  ? 
But  there  is  at  least  the  possibility  that  she  thought  the 
Cardinal  might  succeed  in  arranging  suitable  terms  for 
the  English  marriage,  to  the  desirability  of  which,  from  a 
worldly  point  of  view,  she  could  hardly  have  been  blind  ; 
and  his  liberation  would,  she  doubtless  hoped — though  on 
this  point  she  proved  in  the  end  to  be  wrong — hold  in  check 
Arran's  ambitious  hopes  in  regard  to  the  marriage. 

In  whatever  way  the  seemingly  daring  coup  of  the 
Cardinal's  arrest  is  to  be  explained — whether  it  was  really 
meant  seriously  by  Douglas  as  well  as  by  Arran,  or  was  only 
a  ruse  to  delude  and  pacify  Henry,  or  a  contrivance  of 
Douglas  to  commend  himself  at  once  to  Henry  and  Arran — 
those  who  had  him  in  keeping  had  no  intention  of  handing 
him  over  to  Henry  :  as  Arran  playfully  put  it  to  Sadler, 
the  Cardinal  had  lever  go  into  hell."  ^ 

^  Sadler's  State  Papers,  i.  88.  2  /^/^^  jiq. 


From  the  picture  in  the' S ational  Portrait  Gallery.  Emery  Walker. 


MARY  OF  LORRAINE,  QUEEN  OF  JAMES  V.  AND  MOTHER  OF 
MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS. 

This  picture  was  for  some  time  believed  to  be  a  portrait  of  Mar\-  Queen  of  Scots, 
but  it  is  now  (though  without  certaint3-)  supposed  to  be  that  of  her  mother. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  21 


It  may  be  that  the  aim  of  his  captors  was  to  come  to 
some  kind  of  terms  with  him  :  to  induce  him  either  to 
assent  to  the  parliamentary  decision  as  to  entertaining 
the  marriage  proposal,  or  to  prevent  him  being  in  a  position 
immediately  to  object  to  it  ;  and  they  may  have  hoped  to 
induce  him  to  combine  with  them  in  their  endeavour 
to  procure,  meanwnile,  a  continuance  of  the  truce  with 
Henry.  Little  faith  can  be  placed  in  the  statement  of 
Sandy  Pringill,"  an  English  spy,  that  the  Cardinal  obtained 
his  release  by  bribing  Douglas  ;  but  we  may  well  believe  that 
Douglas  had  charge  of  the  stage-management  of  the  release 
— a  stage-management  so  artful  as  fairly  to  bewilder  Sadler. 

We  have  first  his  removal  from  Dalkeith — not  to 
Tantallon,  as  the  impatient  Henry  suggested,  but — to  Lord 
Seton's  place,  followed  by  nothing  less  than  his  transference, 
under  Lord  Seton's  nominal  care,  to  his  own  castle  at 
St.  Andrews  in  order,  so  Arran  was  made,  perhaps  quite 
ingenuously,  to  explain,  that  the  government  might  obtain 
possession  of  the  castle  as  well  as  the  Cardinal  ;  then  his 
confinement  at  St.  Andrews  on  the  bonds  of  four  lords  that 
he  should  not  pass  beyond  its  boundaries  ;  and  finally 
the  discovery  that,  bonds  or  no  bonds,  and  whether  he  could 
leave  his  castle  or  not,  neither  his  ecclesiastical  nor  political 
influence  was  diminished,  but  rather  increased.  True, 
Beaton's  fiat  that  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass  should  remain 
suspended  throughout  the  kingdom,  so  long  as  he  was  not 
in  a  position  to  exercise  his  ecclesiastical  office,  may  have  so 
appealed  to  the  superstitions  of  the  people  as  seriously  to 
endanger  Arran' s  rule  ;  but  of  course,  had  Arran  been  as 
sincere  a  Protestant  as  he  was  then  pretending  to  be,  the 
cessation  of  idolatry  "  ought  to  have  ministered  rather  to 
his  satisfaction  than  to  his  disquiet. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Deeply  involved  as  we  must  suppose  Douglas  to  have 
been  in  the  liberation,  as  in  the  arrest,  of  the  Cardinal,  he, 
in  conversation  with  Sadler,  avoided  responsibility  for  it 
by  throwing  this  on  Arran,  who,  he  asserted,  truly  enough, 
was  "  the  most  wavering  and  unstable  person  "  ;  and  he 
further  affirmed  that  Arran  had  been  led  astray  by  Huntly, 
whom  he  described  "  as  the  falsest  and  wiliest  young  man  of 
the  world"  ^ — a  definition  which,  apart  from  the  qualification 
"  young,"  would  have  applied  with  special  aptness  to 
himself.  If  Arran  was  concerned  in  the  Cardinal's  libera- 
tion, it  must  have  been  because  he  could  not  help  it ;  for 
he  was  still  doubtful  as  to  the  Cardinal's  attitude  towards 
himself,  and  for  some  months  they  remained  unreconciled. 

The  next  stage  in  the  intrigue,  so  far  as  it  concerned 
Scotland,  was — minor  under-plots  being  left  out  of  account — 
marked,  on  the  one  hand,  by  the  efforts  of  Arran,  while 
seeking  to  avert  the  suspicions  of  Henry,  to  adapt  his 
policy  in  Scotland  to  the  new  situation  created  by  the 
Cardinal's  release,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  by  the  finessing 
of  Beaton  to  consolidate  his  position  in  Scotland  either 
by  means  of  Arran's  ruin,  or  by  compelling  him  to  terms. 
The  influence  which  the  Cardinal  exercised  was  at  first 
indirect.  It  was  exercised  through  Arran's  bastard  brother, 
the  Abbot  of  Paisley,  who  had  lately  arrived  in  Scotland 
from  Paris.  The  expectation  at  first  was  that  the  Abbot 
and  his  companion,  David  Panter,  had  been  brought  to 
Scotland  by  Arran  that  "  the  one  and  the  other "  might 
''occupy  the  pulpete,  and  trewly  preach  Jesus  Christ";^ 
but  either  the  Abbot  was  the  special  emissary  of  his  Catholic 
superiors,  or  Arran  had  sent  for  him  to  help  him  in 
arranging  terms  with  Beaton.  As  early  as  April  I2th  he 
'  Sadler's  State  Papers^  i.  105.  *  Knox's  IVorks,  i.  105. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  23 


had  dispatched  him  as  an  envoy  to  Beaton,  who,  Arran 
told  Sadler,  was  now  desirous  of  leaving  utterly  the 
cast  of  France,"  and  being  wholly,  as  Arran  professed 
to  be,  given  to  the  cast  of  England."  Yet  Arran  pro- 
fessed to  have  little  faith  in  the  sincerity  of  his  professions, 
and  hardly  believed  that  he  would,  as  he  had  invited  him, 
come  to  Edinburgh,  "  fearing  lest  I  should  eftsoons  lay 
hands  on  him."  ^  Arran  proved  to  be  right  in  his  con- 
jecture ;  but  shortly  afterwards  Arran — doubtless  on  the 
Abbot's  advice — adopted  the  remarkable  resolve  of  resiling 
from  his  Protestantism,  though  in  the  March  Parliament 
he  had  got  an  Act  passed  for  the  free  circulation  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  was  supposed  now  to  be  "  the  most  fervent 
Protestant  in  Europe." 

Some  time  before  Arran's  recantation,  Henry,  in  order 
still  further  to  bind  Arran  to  his  interests,  had  offered  the 
hand  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth  for  Arran's  son.  Towards 
this  great  bribe  Arran's  attitude  was,  however,  irreproach- 
able. Acknowledging  his  deep  sense  of  the  honour  Henry 
proposed  to  do  him,  he  said  he  would  consult  with  his 
friends  before  he  gave  a  definite  reply.  After  consulting 
with  them,  he  reported  that  they  were  as  much  gratified 
as  he  was,  at  the  proposal  ;  and  he  added  that  he  could 
not  doubt  that  the  marriage  between  the  young  Queen 
and  Edward  would  be  easily  agreed  upon,  unless  the 
King's  Majesty  go  about  to  take  away  the  liberty  and 
freedom  of  this  realm,  and  to  bring  the  same  to  his 
obedience  and  subjection."  ^  Whatever  weakness  may,  how- 
ever, have  characterised  Arran's  policy,  he  was  necessarily  as 
desirous  as  the  Cardinal  to  outwit  Henry.  Indeed  he  was, 
through  the  influence  of  his  brother  the  Abbot,  coming 
^  Sadler's  State  Papers^  i.  137.  '  Ibid.^  i.  130,  139. 


24  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


more  and  more  into  line  with  the  CardinaFs  policy  ;  and, 
on  April  22nd,  Douglas  announced  that  he  had  put  away 
his  friar  preachers,  and  would  undoubtedly  join  the  French 
party.^  Not  only  so,  but,  as  has  now  been  revealed,  this 
fervent  ecclesiastical  recruit  of  Henry,  as  early  as  May  14th, 
assured  Pope  Paul  III.  that  "he  would  strive  with  all 
his  strength  for  the  safety  of  the  Church  "  ;  and  on  the 
14th  he  wrote,  to  commit  his  country  to  the  protection 
of  his  Holiness,  and  to  beg  him  to  undertake  "  the  defence 
of  its  rights  and  privileges."  ^  The  truth  was,  that  for 
Arran  to  continue  to  champion  the  cause  of  Protestantism, 
unless  he  could  depend  on  Henry's  help,  would  be  suicidal  ; 
and  convinced,  as  he  could  hardly  help  being,  of  the 
sinister  purposes  of  Henry,  both  towards  his  country  and 
himself,  he  had  hardly  other  option  than,  while  continuing 
meanwhile  his  friendly  pretences  towards  Henry,  to  return 
secretly  to  the  Catholics,  and  seek  succour  for  his  country 
and  support  for  himself  by  a  renewal  of  the  alliance  with 
France. 

In  his  desire  to  come  to  terms  with  Beaton,  Arran 
had  doubtless  also  been  quickened  by  the  arrival  from 
France  of  Lennox,  who  against  him  claimed  the  next 
heirship  to  the  Crown,  and  whom  Beaton  and  the  French 
party  were  bringing  forward  as  a  possible  Regent,  should 
Arran  continue  to  persist  in  his  Protestant  folly.  His 
main  difficulty  was  doubtless  distrust  of  Beaton,  whose 
illstarred  attempt  to  deprive  him  of  the  governorship  could 
not  be  easily  forgotten.  Their  alienation  was  also,  mean- 
while, apparently  aggravated  by  the  very  methods  adapted 
by  Beaton  to  bring  Arran  to  terms  ;  but  it  being  now 

^  Sadler's  State  Papers^  i.  144,  158. 

'  State  Papers,  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  ed.  Gairdner,  xviii.  (11)  No.  542 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  25 


impossible  for  Beaton  to  establish  the  original  contrivance 
of  a  Regency  Commission,  with  himself  as  head,  Arran, 
apart  from  the  consideration  of  kinship,  which  then  counted 
for  much,  was  the  most  pliant  tool  for  his  own  purposes 
which  Beaton  could  select.  The  real  aim  of  Beaton  in 
patronising  Lennox — who,  it  was  even  suggested,  might 
marry  the  Queen-Dowager — was  merely  so  to  alarm  Arran 
about  his  position,  as  to  make  him  realise  the  advisability 
of  definitely  throwing  in  his  lot  with  Beaton  and  the 
Catholics. 

Meanwhile,  although  the  English  marriage  was  anath- 
ema to  the  clergy,  Beaton  made  no  open  objection  to  the 
negotiations,  and  from  the  time  of  his  liberation  he  was, 
through  Sadler,  seeking  to  commend  himself  to  Henry's 
favour.  Towards  the  end  of  April  he  invited  Sadler, 
through  the  Bishop  of  Orkney,  to  visit  him  at  St.  Andrews, 
adding  that  if  he  did  so,  he  trusted  he  would  have  good 
cause  to  think  his  journey  well  bestowed."  But  at  this 
time  Arran,  on  account  of  Beaton's  support  of  Lennox,  was 
specially  distrustful  of  Beaton,  and  Sadler  was  afraid  that 
the  visit  to  Beaton  would  be  taken  by  Arran  in  bad  part.^ 

Henry  could  hardly  have  been  deceived  by  Beaton's 
professions  ;  but  Beaton's  attitude  explains  the  general 
assent  to  the  marriage  negotiations.  These  negotiations 
were,  in  fact,  proceeding  much  too  smoothly  to  be  con- 
sistent with  sincerity  on  either  side — the  enormous  character 
of  the  original  differences  being  considered.  As  the  first 
Scottish  ambassadors  affirmed  that  they  lacked  commission 
to  make  certain  alteration  in  the  terms,  without  which 
alteration  Henry  expressed  his  inability  to  proceed  further, 
Glencairn  and  Sir  George  Douglas  were  sent  with  certain 
^  Sadler's  State  Papers,  i.  104,  133,  189, 


26  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


compromises,  which  Sadler,  influenced  by  what  he  deemed 
his  knowledge  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  situation,  strongly 
urged  Henry  to  accept  ;  more  than  hath  been  done, 
being,"  he  said,  *'  impossible  "  ;  although,  once  a  definite 
arrangement  had  been  formally  reached,  Henry,  though 
the  actual  terms  of  the  treaty  did  not  guarantee  all  that 
he  desired,  might,  by  "  gentle  means,"  soon  have  "  all  the 
nobility  "  induced  "  to  his  will  and  devotion."  ^ 

Such  a  view  of  the  situation  was  of  course  absurdly 
sanguine,  but  Henry,  from  whatever  motive,  ostensibly 
acted  in  accordance  with  Sadler's  advice  ;  and  thus  a  treaty 
of  marriage  was  completed  between  him  and  the  Scottish 
Commission  on  July  ist. 

Strangely  enough,  also,  the  Scots  had  obtained  the 
substance  of  their  demands  :  the  young  Queen  was  to 
remain  in  Scotland  until  she  had  completed  her  tenth 
year  ;  Scotland  was  to  retain  its  name  and  continue  to  be 
governed  by  its  ancient  laws  ;  and  although  it  was  agreed 
that  neither  country  should  afford  assistance  to  the  foreign 
aggressor,  on  the  other  hand,  Henry  failed  to  induce  the 
Scots  to  dissolve  their  ancient  league  with  France.^  So 
far  as  appearances  went,  Henry  had  waived  his  claims  to 
overlordship,  had  foregone  his  ambitious  purpose  of  virtually 
seizing  the  Scottish  sovereignty,  and  had  done  his  utmost 
to  avoid  offence  to  Scottish  national  prejudices.  If  Henry's 
part  in  the  arrangement  had  been  entirely  bona  fide^  the 
Scots  had  been  without  excuse  for  the  rupture  which  soon 
after  followed. 

Much,  indeed  all,  turned  on  the  attitude  and  pro- 
cedure of  Beaton  :  unless  he  were  again  overthrown,  or 
unless  Henry  could  buy  him  and  convert  him  to  his  own 

^  Sadler's  State  Papers,  i.  187.       -  Rymer's  Foedera,  xiv.  786,  796. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  27 


ecclesiastical  opinions,  Henry  knew  that  the  treaty  was 
mere  words,  and  that,  treaty  or  no  treaty,  he  was  as  far 
as  ever  from  gaining  his  purpose  ;  but  since  even  Arran 
and  his  friends  had,  whatever  their  professions,  resolved 
not  to  further  the  sinister  ends  of  Henry,  the  prospects  of 
the  Cardinal  renouncing  his  old  faith  in  order  to  become 
the  bosom  friend  of  the  heretic  king  could  not  be  termed 
bright.  Thus  the  main  hope,  meanwhile,  of  Henry  was 
that  Beaton  and  Arran  should  again  quarrel,  and  appearances 
seemed  at  first  to  favour  its  realisation. 

On  June  7th  Sadler  reported  that  Arran  was  staying 
proceedings  against  Beaton  until  the  conclusion  of  the 
treaty,  and  that  Beaton  was  making  great  suit  for  Arran's 
favour,  or  for  leave  to  go  to  France.^  Sadler  continued 
to  press  him,  by  all  the  means  and  persuasions  "  he  could, 
to  the  apprehension  of  Beaton,  Lennox,  and  their  adherents  ; 
but  he  now  found  that  Arran  was  making  the  enterprise 
"  more  difficile  than  he  was  woont  to  doo."  ^ 

The  truth  was  that  neither  Sadler  nor  Henry  had 
gauged  aright  either  Beaton's  abilities,  resolution,  or  influence, 
or  the  possibilities  of  Arran's  pliability,  insincerity  and 
self-regard.  In  addition  to  this,  the  close  connection  of 
Arran,  the  Douglases,  and  the  Solway  lords  with  the  intrigues 
of  Henry  had  so  alarmed  the  nation  as  to  enable  the 
Cardinal  to  regain  much  of  the  old  influence  he  had  lost 
through  the  Solway  disaster. 

Nor  was  Beaton  strong  only  in  Scottish  support. 
On  July  2nd,  Sadler  reported  that  the  French  navy 
was  lying  off  the  east  coast — with  the  view,  Sadler  suspected, 
of  carrying  off  the  young  Queen — and  that  Angus  and 
Arran  were  in  force  near  Linhthgow,  till  they  saw  what 

^  Sadler's  State  Papers,  i.  214.  ^  Hamilton  Papers,  i.  518. 


28  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


the  naval  visit  might  portend/  Henry  thereupon  proposed 
that  the  child  should  be  sent  to  a  place  within  reach  of 
English  help,  but  it  was  explained  that  she  was  then  troubled 
"  with  the  breeding  of  teeth."  Sadler  thought  Arran  was 
as  much  concerned  for  her  health  and  wellbeing  as  if  she 
had  been  his  own  child  ;  and  no  doubt  this  was  so,  though 
his  reasons  for  this  were  of  course  selfish  rather  than 
benevolent.  But  he  was  on  the  horns  of  a  great  dilemma. 
On  the  one  side  there  was  the  devil,  as  represented  by 
Henry,  and  on  the  other  there  was  the  deep  sea  of  Beaton's 
as  yet  unfathomable  intentions.  Unseconded  by  Beaton, 
Arran's  appeal  for  Papal  or  French  help  was  vain  ;  and 
without  French  help  he  could  not  hold  his  own,  either 
against  Henry  or  against  Beaton. 

Instead,  however,  of  Arran  succumbing  to  Beaton,  Beaton 
was  now  making  a  show  of  revolting  against  Arran. 
Assembling,  on  July  26th,  six  or  seven  thousand  of  his 
adherents  at  Stirling,  Beaton  next  day  marched  with 
them  to  Linlithgow,  arriving  there  at  ten  o'clock  at  night  ; 
but  Arran  having  taken  the  precaution  to  fortify  the  Palace 
with  men  and  artillery,  the  insurgents  contented  themselves 
meanwhile  with  lying  in  the  town.  Arran's  party,  reinforced 
by  Angus  and  the  Solway  lords,  were,  according  to  Sadler,  of 
**joylie  courage  "  ;  but  since  they  were  also  desirous  to 
settle  differences  by  "  wisedom  and  pollicie  withoute  the 
effusion  of  bloode,"  ^  an  arrangement  was  soon  come  to  which 
must  have  been  as  "  gall  and  wormwood  "  to  Henry. 

The  demands  of  the  Cardinal  were  too  reasonable  and 
too  accordant  with  general  Scottish  sentiment,  to  be  objected 
to.  His  avowed  purpose  was  not  to  head  a  revolt,  nor 
remove  the  Governor  from  power,  nor  oppose  the  ratification 

I  Sadler's  State  Papers,  i.  228.  ^  Hamilto7i  Papers,  i.  584-5. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  29 


of  the  treaty,  but  merely  to  secure  the  safety  of  the  child, 
by  placing  her  in  Stirling  Castle  under  the  care  of  guardians 
in  whose  fidelity  the  nation  could  put  full  trust.  The 
secret  bond,  which  he  got  his  adherents  to  subscribe 
on  July  24th,  at  Linlithgow,^  was,  notwithstanding  its 
references  to  Arran's  weakness,  a  most  moderate  as  well  as 
cogent  document.  While  adroitly  indicating  the  lack  of 
policy  and  justice  under  Arran's  administration,  it  justified 
their  muster  by  the  need  to  guard  against  the  subjection  of 
the  country  to  England,  as  well  as  against  the  transference 
of  the  young  Queen  into  Henry's  hands,  to  the  hie 
dishonour,  perpetuall  skaith,  dammage  and  rewyne  of  the 
libertie  and  nobilness  of  this  realm."  Not  only,  indeed, 
were  these  proposals  unobjectionable  :  they  were  so  advis- 
able that  even  the  Protestant  Glencairn  was  disarmed  by 
them  ;  and,  discerning  the  possibility  of  a  temporary 
reconciliation  among  all  parties  and  a  peaceful  and  unanimous 
acceptance  of  the  treaty,  he  made  himself  the  medium  of 
arranging  the  agreement. 

Nor,  however  disconcerted  Henry  may  have  been  by 
Beaton's  apparent  triumph,  was  it  possible  for  him  to 
object  to  the  terms  of  reconciliation,  for  the  primary  aim 
of  Arran  and  his  party  in  agreeing  to  it  was  stated  to  be, 
the  desire  of  obtaining  the  willing  and  unanimous  assent  of 
the  nation  to  the  treaty.  The  professed  object  of  the  Cardinal 
and  his  friends  was  merely  to  secure  that  the  provisions 
of  the  treaty  should  be  properly  carried  out. 

They  objected,  and  with  reason,  to  the  Queen-Dowager 
and  the  young  Queen  being  wholly  in  the  hands  of  Arran's 
creatures,  and  it  was  finally  agreed  that  she  should  be 
placed   with    four    guardians — Lords    Graham,  Erskine, 
*  Hamilton  Papers^  i.  630-1. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Lyndsay,  and  Livingstone,  two  being  nominated  by  Beaton's 
party  and  two  by  Arran's — under  whose  care  she  was  to 
reside  in  Stirling.  Stirling  being  the  jointure-house  of 
the  Queen-Dowager,  assigned  her  by  the  Parliament,  she 
was  quite  entitled  to  remove  the  child  there,  should  she 
think  fit  ;  and  it  was  diplomatically  explained  to  Sadler  that 
*'  the  house  of  Lythcoe  is  so  little  "  that  the  new  guardians, 
with  their  attendants,  could  not  all  be  well  placed  and 
lodged  in  the  same." 

On  the  same  day — July  26th — that  the  young  Queen 
left  for  Stirling,  the  treaty  of  peace  and  marriage  was 
proclaimed  at  Edinburgh,  apparently  to  the  entire  satis- 
faction of  the  citizens  ;  and  immediately  thereafter  it  was 
also  proclaimed  throughout  the  country.  But  the  sanguine 
hopes  of  Glencairn  as  to  its  ratification  in  a  full  and 
unanimous  Parliament  were  not  to  be  realised.  Had  the 
professions  of  Beaton  to  Angus  and  others,  as  to  his 
moche  "  dedication  "to  the  peax  and  mariage,"  led  to  a 
formal  reconciliation  between  him  and  Henry,  it  might  have 
been  otherwise  ;  but  Henry  would  not  even  pretend  to 
tolerate  the  Cardinal  and  his  followers,  unless  they  followed 
Henry's  example  in  revolting  from  the  Pope.  Despite 
Beaton's  profuse  professions  of  goodwill  to  Henry,  Henry 
continued  to  advise  Arran  against  him  ;  and  it  is  therefore 
small  wonder  that  Beaton  and  his  followers  ceased  to 
pretend  any  zeal  for  the  treaty,  and  declined  to  stultify 
themselves  by  taking  part  in  the  ceremony  of  ratification. 
Difficulties  were  raised  as  to  the  place  of  meeting,  Beaton 
standing  out  for  Stirling,  and  Arran  insisting  on  Edinburgh. 
All  the  while  Henry  was  continuing  to  bombard  the 
bamboozled  Arran  with  advice  against  Beaton — that  he 
should  not  permit  him  on  the  new  Council  unless  he 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND 


31 


renounced  his  "  red  hood  "  and  allowed  God's  word  to  be 
preached  ;  or  that  he  should  send  a  man  secretly  to  capture 
him  ;  or  at  least  deny  him  or  his  followers  admission  to 
the  Queen.  Not  only  so,  but,  in  dread  of  the  Cardinal's 
possible  reconciliation  with  Arran,  he  now  offered  to  make 
Arran  king  north  of  the  Forth,  on  condition  that  he 
delivered  up  to  him  the  southern  strongholds  ;  and  in 
addition  to  this  he,  in  July,  induced  Angus  and  Maxwell  to 
sign  a  secret  device,"  by  which  they  bound  themselves  to 
secure  the  delivery  of  the  child  as  soon  as  may  be  "  ;  to 
acknowledge  Henry  as  lord  of  the  kingdom  in  case  of  her 
death  ;  to  support  Arran  only  if  he  kept  the  treaty,  but 
to  acknowledge  no  other  Regent  ;  and  to  secure,  if  possible, 
to  Henry  the  strongholds  south  of  the  Forth. ^ 

Thus,  hardly  was  the  ink  of  the  treaty  dry  when 
Henry  was  endeavouring  to  go  behind  its  provisions  and 
to  secure  the  fulfilment  of  the  conditions — and  even  of 
much  more — to  which  the  Scottish  Commissioners  objected. 
But  so  far  as  Arran  was  concerned,  the  inevitable  result  of 
Henry's  proposals  was  gradually  to  drive  him  towards 
the  Cardinal's  net  :  Henry  was  making  his  submission  to 
the  Cardinal  immensely  easier  than  it  would  otherwise  have 
been.  That  Beaton  would  oblige  Henry  by  renouncing 
the  red  hood,"  Arran  could  not  believe  ;  on  the  contrary, 
he  was  of  opinion  that  he  "  wolde  rather  embrace  and 
recyve  the  three  crownes."  ^ 

Nevertheless  Beaton  continued  to  finesse  with  Henry, 
protesting  that,  so  far  from  seeking  to  offend  him,  there 
was  nothing  he  so  much  desired  as  his  favour.  His 
protestations  were  backed  up  by  the  Queen-Dowager,  who, 

^  Sadler,  i.  237. 

*  State  Papers^  Henry  VIII.,  v.  319. 


32 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


however,  never  pretended  any  friendship  for  Arran,  her  aim 
being  to  convince  Henry  that  since  the  Cardinal,  unlike 
Arran,  had  no  private  ambition  to  serve  with  the  young 
Queen,  he  was  much  more  worthy  of  Henry's  trust.  She 
now  sent  for  Sadler  to  visit  her  at  Stirling,  not  only  to 
let  him  know  her  constant  devotion  to  the  match,  but 
that  Beaton's  party  were  all  "  well-minded  and  dedicate  " 
to  it/  She  further,  tactfully,  expressed  her  delight  with  her 
new  residence,  as,  alone  on  account  of  the  surpassing  nature 
of  its  prospect,  she  well  might  ;  and,  as  before,  she  wound 
up  the  interview  by  gratifying  Sadler  with  a  sight  of  the 
child,  who,"  she  said,  did  grow  apace,  and  soon  she 
would  be  a  woman  if  she  took  of  her  mother," — who 
indeed,"  adds  Sadler,  "is  of  the  largest  stature  of  women." 
All  this  seems  to  show  that  Beaton,  so  far  from  wishing, 
meanwhile,  to  provoke  an  open  rupture  with  Henry,  was, 
if  anything,  desirous  to  soothe  him  into  quiescent  assent 
to  the  statu  quo.  But  for  the  fact  that  Henry  meant  to 
use  the  treaty  as  a  mere  blind  to  conceal  his  secret  intrigue, 
immediate  action  on  Beaton's  part  against  him  was  not 
called  for,  for  much  might  happen  within  ten  years. 
Henry's  main  difficulty,  on  the  other  hand,  was  that  he 
could  not  trust  the  Scots,  so  long  as  Beaton  retained  his 
red  hood,"  and  thus  the  treaty  had  complicated  rather 
than  improved  the  situation. 

Peace  thus  rested  on  the  forlorn  hope  of  converting 
Beaton  to  Protestantism  ;  and  on  August  24th,  Henry 
suggested  to  Sadler  that  he  should,  as  of  himself,"  seek 
to  allure  Beaton  by  fair  promises  of  Henry's  unbounded 
favour  if  he  wold  be  faithful  unto  us  and  serve  us." 
True,  it  would  be  incumbent  on  him  to  leave  "  his  red 

^  Sadler,  i.  250. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND 


33 


cappe,"  but  he  should  still  be  '^an  archebishop  and  prymat 
over  the  rest."  ^ 

But  who  was  Henry  that  he  should  thus  take  upon 
him  to  set  up  his  own  archbishop  in  Scotland  ?  And  what 
pecuhar  honour  lay  in  becoming  the  subservient  tool  of 
the  English  king,  that  it  should  tempt  Beaton  not  merely 
to  abnegate  his  great  ecclesiastical  office  and  his  still  higher 
ecclesiastical  ambitions,  but  both  to  renounce  his  faith 
and  betray  the  liberties  of  his  country  ?  It  may  be  that 
Beaton  was  never  told  by  Sadler  of  devices  at  once  so 
shameful  and  so  crude,  and  in  any  case  they  were  conceived 
too  late  to  affect  the  attitude  of  him  or  his  followers  towards 
the  ratification  of  the  treaties,  which  took  place,  on 
August  25th,  in  their  absence  ;  but  without  any  direct 
dissent  from  them. 

All  the  while  that  Henry  was  suggesting  such  high 
honours  for  Beaton,  he  was  urging  Arran  to  "  go  roundly 
to  work  "  against  him,  and  on  August  25th,  the  English 
Privy  Council  recommended  that  unless  Beaton  and  his 
party  were  present  at  the  ratification,  they  should  be 
attacked  before  the  arrival  of  the  Papal  Legate,  Cardinal 
Grimani,^  who  was  bound  to  exercise  an  influence  adverse 
to  Henry's  purposes.  Imimediately  after  the  ratification, 
Arran  went  to  St.  Andrews  for  an  interview  with  Beaton, 
who,  however,  refused  to  leave  his  castle  to  speak  with  him 
in  the  town,  alleging  that  "  he  durst  nor  for  fear  of  his 
life."  Arran  therefore,  on  August  29th,  proclaimed  him 
a  traitor,  and  instructed  his  supporters  to  levy  their  forces 
against  him. 

How  much  in  the  attitude  of  Beaton  and  Arran  towards 
each  other  was  now  mere  pretence  is  hard  to  say  ;  but 
^  Hamiltoji  Papers,  i.  652-3.  2  m^^^  \,  656-7. 

VOL.  1.  3 


34 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


scarcely  had  Arran's  proclamation  been  issued  when  the 
enigmatical  Sir  George  Douglas  was  expressing  to  Sadler 
his  apprehension  that  Arran  would  "  slypp  from  them  and 
beestelie  put  himselfe  into  thandes  of  his  ennemyes.'*^ 

Whatever  chance  there  might  have  been  of  postponing 
an  alliance  of  Arran  with  the  Cardinal  was  in  any  case 
lost  by  Henry's  arrest  of  certain  Scottish  ships,  sailing 
with  provisions  to  France,  Henry's  preposterous  plea  being 
that  this  was  a  violation  of  the  treaty,  and  that  some  of 
the  crews  belonged  to  the  Cardinal's  party  and  had  spoken 
disrespectfully  of  the  Governor.^  In  fact  Henry  was  virtu- 
ally already  assuming  the  direction  of  Scottish  affairs,  with 
the  result  that  the  nation  was  immediately  swept  with  a 
violent  storm  of  wrath  at  his  interference.  So  indignant 
were  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh,  that  Sadler  could  not 
venture  to  appear  in  the  streets,  and  had  fears  lest  his 
house  should  be  burned  over  his  head.  Arran  had  thus 
reached  the  limits  of  his  temporising  policy,  and  if  any- 
thing further  had  been  needed  to  compel  him  to  a  decision, 
it  was  supplied  by  the  revived  pressure  of  Henry  for  the 
delivery  of  the  Scottish  strongholds. 

Nor  was  the  Cardinal  the  man  to  be  blind  to  his 
remarkable  opportunity.  His  refusal  to  meet  Arran  meant 
that  he  had  burnt  his  boats.  Immediately  after  Arran's 
proclamation  he  and  his  friends  assembled  their  forces 
at  Stirling,  their  intention  being,  it  was  said,  "  to  crowne 
the  yong  Quene,  to  make  four  Regentes  of  the  realme, 
and  to  depryve  the  governour  of  his  auctoritie."  ^ 

Faced  by   a  revival  of  Beaton's  original  conspiracy, 
Arran  could  not  hope  to  repeat  his  triumph  over  him 
except  by  the  English  help,  for  which  he  would  have  to 
*  Hamilton  Papers,  ii.  4.  ^  Ibid.^  ii.  4.  ^  Ibid.,  ii.  4, 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  35 


pay  Henry's  own  price.  On  September  3rd,  therefore, 
he  rode  suddenly  out  of  Edinburgh,  with  only  a  few 
attendants,  who  included,  however,  significantly  enough, 
the  two  ecclesiastics,  his  half-brother  the  Abbot  of  Paisley, 
and  Dr.  Panter  ;  and,  after  a  long  interview  with  Beaton 
at  Callendar,  he  accompanied  him  to  Stirling. 

The  gentleman  who  informed  Sadler  of  the  startling 
change  in  the  situation,  stated  that  the  Governor  told  him 
that  "  his  goyng  to  Sterlyng  shulde  be  for  the  best,  for 
he  shulde  make  all  well "  ;  ^  and  the  Abbot  of  Paisley 
also  assured  him  that  he  now  "  trusted  the  Cardinall 
and  thother  noble  men  of  that  partie  woolde  concurre 
with  the  Governour  and  his  partakers  in  and  for  thacom- 
plishment  of  the  treaties,  in  all  poyntes  and  condicions."  ^ 

As  yet,  be  it  remembered,  the  treaty,  though  ratified  by 
the  Scottish  Parliament,  had  not  been  confirmed  by  Henry. 
Henry  had  declined  to  confirm  it  until  the  dispatch  of 
hostages,  which,  he  wrote  to  Sadler,  he  regarded  as  the 
knot  of  the  holl  treatie."  ^  Arran,  pleading  the  disturbed 
state  of  the  country,  had  not  as  yet  been  able  to  send 
hostages  ;  but,  whether  the  hostages  were  sent  or  not, 
it  was  plain  that  Henry  wished  to  cajole  or  concuss 
Arran  into  compliance  with  his  original  demands  ;  and 
therefore,  instead  of  Arran  winning  over  Beaton  to  support 
Henry,  Beaton  had  won  over  Arran  to  his  own  French 
and  Catholic  policy. 

That  this  was  the  true  character  of  the  situation  was 
almost  immediately  made  manifest  by  two  striking  occur- 
rences :  (i)  on  Saturday,  September  8th,  Arran,  in  the 
church  of  the  Franciscans  at  Stirling — after  doing  penance 
for  his  apostasy   and  obtaining  solemn  absolution  from 

^  Hamilton  Papers,  ii  19,  2  Ibid,,  ii.  22.  ^  jn^,^  ii.  7. 


36 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


the  Cardinal — received  the  sacrament  in  token  of  his 
restoration  to  membership  in  the  Catholic  Church  ;  and 
(2)  on  the  Sunday  the  young  Queen  was  crowned  in 
the  chapel  of  Stirling  Castle.  It  can  hardly  be  doubted 
that,  before  his  renunciation  of  his  heresies,  Arran,  through 
his  brother  the  Abbot,  had  made  a  bargain  of  an  entirely 
secular  import  with  the  Cardinal,  and  that  his  price  was 
an  assurance  of  the  marriage  of  his  son  to  the  young  Queen. 
Indeed  the  English  Parr,  before  August  2nd,  learned 
from  a  spy  that  "bitwene  the  Cardinall  and  the  lordes  of 
his  parte  was  secret  commynicacion  with  the  governour, 
that  if  he  wolde  in  all  causes  applie  and  followe  theire 
myendes,  his  sonne  and  heire  shulde  marrie  theire  quene."^ 
The  complete  understanding  now  arrived  at  between 
Arran  and  the  Cardinal  caused  the  revolt  from  the  Cardinal 
of  his  protege,  the  Earl  of  Lennox,  who,  seeing  already 
how  matters  were  drifting,  had  become  a  suitor  for  the 
hand  of  Lady  Margaret  Douglas,  daughter  of  Angus  and 
niece  of  Henry,  in  order  that  he  might  have  Henry's  aid 
"  for  the  recoverie  of  his  rights  and  title  to  this  realme, 
which  the  governor  now  usurpeth."  Strenuous  efforts 
were  made  by  Beaton  to  prevent  such  a  formidable  coalition, 
by  effecting  an  understanding  between  Lennox  and  Arran  ; 
but  Lennox  would  be  content  with  nothing  less  than  the 
overthrow  of  his  rival.  Lennox  did  obtain  the  hand  of 
Lady  Margaret  ;  but  it  was  mainly  in  after  years  that 
the  political  results  of  the  marriage  were  to  be  fully 
manifested — in  the  marriage  of  his  son.  Lord  Darnley,  to 
the  same  queen,  Mary  Stuart,  who  was  now  the  subject 
of  such  squabbling  negotiations  between  Henry  and  the 
Scots. 

*  Hamilton  Papers,  i.  615. 


THE  CROWN  OF  SCOTLAND. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  37 


Immediately  on  learning  that  Arran  had  "  put  himself 
into  the  handes  "  of  the  Cardinal,  Henry  directed  Angus 
and  the  "  English  lords  "  to  attack  them  at  once  while  their 
power  was  weak.  Fearing  also  that  Angus  would  not  "  so 
extremely  execute  the  enterprise  as  he  wished  him  to  do, 
he  suggested  to  Suffolk  a  sudden  raid  on  Edinburgh,  in 
order  to  seize  Arran  and  Beaton,  or,  if  they  were  not  there, 
to  burn  the  city  and  waste  the  country  of  their  supporters. 
Those  hostile  projects  were  not,  however,  carried  out 
during  the  autumn,  mainly  owing  to  the  great  ingenuity 
of  Sir  George  Douglas  in  raising  objections  to  any  imme- 
diate action  by  England,  and  to  the  resourcefulness  of 
Angus  and  the  English  lords" — while  professing  them- 
selves entirely  at  Henry's  service — in  finding  excuses  for 
at  least  deferring  the  adoption  of  extreme  measures  against 
Arran. 

Meanwhile  the  attitude  of  Arran  and  Beaton  towards 
Henry  continued  to  be  outwardly  conciliatory.  On  their 
arrival  in  Edinburgh,  Beaton  informed  Sadler  courteously, 
but  ambiguously,  that  they  would  "  doo  what  shulde  becom 
them  to  doo  "  towards  Henry,  not  offending  the  honour 
and  lybertie  of  the  realme,"  ^  while  Arran  sought  weakly 
to  turn  away  Henry's  wrath  by  assuring  Sadler  that,  while 
the  Cardinal's  supporters  were  '^very  styfFe  against  the 
treaties,"  he  "  for  his  part  remayned  the  same  man  he 
was,"  and  would  do  all  that  he  could  for  the  performance 
of  the  treaties.^  On  the  23rd,  however,  the  Cardinal,  in 
the  presence  of  the  Council  and  on  their  behalf,  complained 
to  Sadler  of  their  violation  by  the  detention  of  the  Scottish 
ships  and  other  acts  of  hostility,  and  also  expressed  surprise 
that  Henry  had  not  yet  ratified  them.  As  regards  the 
*  Hajnilton  Papers,  ii.  59.  ^  Ibid,^  ii.  59. 


38 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


ratification,  Sadler  reminded  him  that  the  hostages  had  not 
been  sent,  whereupon  Beaton  countered  with  the  queries 
whether,  on  hostages  being  sent,  Henry  would  accept  them 
and  ratify  the  treaties,  and  whether,  also,  he  would  not 
only  restore  the  ships  and  goods,  but  cause  redress  to  be 
made  for  the  attempt  on  the  Borders.^  Beaton  further 
informed  Sadler  that  no  man  was  more  desirous  to  adjust 
matters  to  Henry's  satisfaction,  not  offending  his  duyte 
of  allegiance  "  ;  but  this  qualified  profession  was  mere  fuel 
to  the  fire  of  Henry's  wrath.  So  far  from  being  able  to 
direct  all  things  in  Scotland  as  he  himself  would  "  appoynt 
and  determine,"  he  saw,  so  he  wrote  to  Sadler,  oon  man 
and  he  our  ennemye  to  drect  and  determyn  all  together 
at  his  oune  arbitre."  ^ 

Henry  therefore  now  definitely  declared  himself  to  be 
at  liberty  to  take  or  leave  the  treaties,"  to  which  declara- 
tion the  Scottish  Parliament,  in  December,  responded  by 
declaring  that  by  the  seizure  of  the  Scottish  ships  the 
treaties  had  been  violated,  and  also  that,  by  the  refusal  of 
Henry  to  ratify  them,  they  had  ceased  to  be  binding  on 
Scotland.  By  the  same  Parliament  the  alliance  with  France 
was  renewed,  and  Beaton  was  confirmed  in  the  office  of 
Lord  High  Chancellor. 

The  definite  rupture  of  negotiations  with  Henry  may 
be  regarded  as  the  first  decisive  turning-point  in  Mary's 
life  ;  it  decided  that  French  and  not  English,  Catholic  and 
not  Protestant,  influences  were  to  be  the  formative  agencies 
of  her  character.  The  savage  outrages  by  which  Henry 
now  sought  to  glut  his  fury  at  the  failure  of  his  intrigues  to 
get  the  infant  into  his  hands,  only  confirmed  the  worst 
opinions  that  had  been  formed  of  his  intentions  :  they  but 
^  Hamilton  Papers,  ii.  70.  ^  Ibid.,  ii.  83. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND 


served  to  rouse  among  the  Scots  an  almost  unprecedented 
hate  of  their  "  auld  enemies,"  and  for  the  time  being  to 
bring  into  disrepute  the  Protestant  opinions  of  which  the 
great  English  ogre  was  the  conspicuous  champion.  As  for 
Beaton,  he  must  at  least  be  allowed  the  main  merit  of 
defeating  Henry's  sinister  purposes.  His  triumph  over 
the  intrigues  of  Henry  was  complete  ;  or,  if  anything  was 
needed  to  complete  it,  it  was  supplied  by  the  savage  excesses 
by  which  Henry  sought  to  reap  revenge.  As  Suffolk 
assured  Henry,  by  a  mere  process  of  furious  chastisement 
he  could  only  cause  all  Scotland  to  say,  Whate  fals 
traytours  ar  those  or  unhappye  men  ar  theye,  that  will  take 
the  Kynge  of  Englandes  parte,  or  thynke  that  the  Kynge 
of  Inglande  entendethe  any  goodnes  to  the  yonge  Quene 
his  nyece  or  the  realme  of  Scotlande,  but  oonlye  to  the  dis- 
truccion  of  the  same.  By  reason  whereof,  after  Edynburghe 
so  brownte,  your  highness  shall  have  nothinge  in  Scotland 
but  by  the  sword  and  conqueste."  ^ 

At  the  same  time,  the  policy  of  the  Cardinal  was  as 
extreme  as  that  of  the  English  king,  and  it  was  enforced 
by  cruelties  which  in  great  part  neutralised  the  advantages 
accruing  to  his  cause  from  the  wanton  excesses  of  the 
English.  Beaton  must  of  course  be  judged  by  the 
religious  axioms  of  his  time  :  burning,  drowning,  and  torture 
were  then  the  recognised  methods  of  promoting  outward 
conformity  to  a  supposed  Christianity,  whose  original 
message  is  said  to  have  been  that  of Peace  on  Earth  and 
Goodwill  towards  Men." 

"  Adopting  the  most  approved  devices  for  stamping 
out    heresy,    Beaton    discharged    his    task    with    a  cool 
thoroughness  which,  had  his  task  been  other  than  it  was, 
^  Hamilton  Papers,  ii.  285. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


and  the  means  necessary  to  its  accomplishment  of  a  different 
character,  might  have  entitled  him  to  high  renown  instead 
of,  as  the  fates  in  Scotland  were  to  determine,  to  a  quite 
peculiar  infamy.  But  it  cannot  be  said  that,  judged  even 
by  the  standards  of  that  age,  the  infamy  was  insufficiently 
earned.  Had  the  zeal  of  Beaton  been  strictly  religious,  or 
even,  as  in  the  case  of  Calvin,  theological,  some  kind  of 
excuse  might  have  been  pled  for  his  severity  as  a  persecutor. 
For  the  cruelties  perpetrated  at  the  instigation  of  extreme 
religious  fanaticism,  or  narrow  theological  persuasion,  there 
is  the  plea — akin  to  that  which  absolves  the  madman — of 
overmastering  impulse  or  indubitable  conviction.  Such  a 
plea  is  hardly  available  for  Beaton.  Extremely  loyal 
though  he  was  to  the  traditional  conventionalities  of 
Catholicism,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that,  neglecting,  as  he 
did,  some  of  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  and  engrossed, 
as  he  seemed  to  be,  mainly  by  the  vain  pomp  and  glory  of 
the  world,"  his  devout  soul  was  really  so  utterly  harrowed 
by  the  violations  of  ecclesiastical  use  and  wont  as  the 
ruthless  punishments  with  which  he  visited  them  would 
seem  to  imply.  At  any  rate,  among  the  mass  of  the  people 
his  persecuting  fervour  aroused  a  detestation  of  him,  that 
was  largely  inspired  by  a  sense  of  the  incongruity  between 
his  zeal  and  his  manner  of  life.  The  antipathy  it  awakened 
against  him  was  really  more  pungent  than  that  felt  towards 
Henry  VIIL,  for  the  reason  that  Henry's  motives  were  those 
of  the  average  man,  whereas  the  ecclesiastical  campaigns 
of  Beaton  could  not  be  accounted  for  by  that  excess  of 
ecclesiastical  piety  which  alone  could  have  excused  them. 

A  detailed  consideration  of  the  inhuman  achievements  of 
Henry  or  the  Cardinal  does  not,  however,  fall  within  the 
scope  of  a  book  mainly  concerned  with  the  fortunes  of  Mary 


From  the  picture  at  Holyrood  Palace, 

CARDINAL  BEATON. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  41 


Stuart.  What  we  have  mainly  here  to  do  is  to  note  their 
effect  in  creating  the  circumstances  that  were  to  shape  her 
career,  and  their  results  on  the  Scotland  which  it  was  to  be 
her  future  lot  to  try  to  govern.  When  Arran  and  Beaton 
finally  broke  with  Henry,  the  nobles  of  the  English  party — 
including  Angus,  Cassilis,  and  even  Glencairn,  though 
apparently  not  Lennox — thought  fit,  in  order  to  escape  the 
possibility  of  forfeiture,  to  sign  a  bond  both  to  support 
Arran  against  England,  and  to  defend  the  liberty  of  Holy 
Church."  Sir  George  Douglas,  who  was  surety  for  Angus, 
explained  to  Suffolk  the  nature  of  the  paction,  un- 
scrupulously adding  :  "  Nochtheles  I  assure  your  grace  ye 
have  the  hartis  of  all  thir  greate  men  more  surely  nor  evir 
ye  had."  But  the  aim  of  Douglas  was,  of  course,  to  ward 
off  Henry's  wrath  from  himself  and  his  brother,  and,  as  he 
put  it  to  Suffolk,  to  induce  the  English  commander  to  be 
gude  to  my  frendis  and  powre  servandis  in  the  Mers."  ^ 

Henry  was,  however,  as  little  able  to  regard  with 
seriousness  the  excuses  of  the  Douglases  as  he  was  the 
renewed  overtures  of  Arran  and  Beaton.  On  May  9th 
he  sent  instructions  to  Wharton  and  Bowes  to  enter  into 
an  arrangement  at  Carlisle  only  with  Lennox  and  Glencairn, 
the  former  instructions  in  regard  to  Angus  and  Cassilis 
being  cancelled  on  account  of  their  having  joined  the 
party  of  Arran  and  the  Cardinal. 

The  overwhelming  descent,  early  in  May,  1544,  of 
Hertford  on  Edinburgh,  and  his  "  wise,  manly,  and  discreet 
handling  "  of  the  charge  committed  to  him  of  devastating  the 
country  ^  had,  however,  no  better  result  than  to  promote  the 
general  exasperation  of  the  nation,  to  cause  the  temporary 
removal  of  the  young  Queen  for  greater  safety  to  Dunkeld, 

^  Hamilton  Papers^  ii.  251.  *  Haynes's  State  Papers,  p.  32. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


and  to  confirm  Angus  and  other  lords  in  their  resolve  to 
hold  aloof  from  Henry. 

Lennox  and  Glencairn  had  been  induced  to  take  up 
arms  against  Arran  ;  but  on  May  26th,  after  a  conflict 
cruellie  fochtin," '  were  completely  defeated  by  him  near 
Glasgow,  Glencairn  taking  refuge  in  Dumbarton  Castle, 
while  Lennox,  moved,  perhaps,  as  much  by  love  as  by  fear, 
set  sail  for  England. 

On  May  loth,  Angus  wrote  to  Hertford  to  advertise 
him  "  of  the  gud  mynd  that  I  beir  to  do  service  to  the 
King's  Majeste  "  ;  and  Sir  George  Douglas,  after  diplo- 
matically congratulating  Hertford  on  his  arrival  in  Scotland 
— even  adding  that  but  for  the  expedition  both  he  and 
his  brother  would  have  lost  their  heads — began  to  persuade 
him  to  "  leave  thextremitie  of  the  sworde  and  fyre  now 
extended  here."  But  the  time  was  past  for  either  Hertford 
or  his  master  being  influenced  by  the  mere  professions  or 
counsel  of  Angus  or  Sir  George,  and  Sir  George  avoided 
a  definite  proposal  for  the  deliverance  of  Tantallon  by 
finding  it  impossible,  on  account  of  his  situation,  to  give 
a  reply  until  Hertford  had  left  Scotland. 

Now,  however,  took  place  in  Scotland  a  political  muta- 
tion, in  some  respects  as  singular  as  ever  happened  in  that 
country.  A  convention  of  the  nobility,  summoned  to 
meet  at  Linlithgow,  on  May  23rd,  to  consider  the  critical 
condition  of  affairs,  adjourned  to  meet  next  day  at  Stirling, 
where,  if  we  are  to  credit  Sir  George  Douglas,  the  nobles 
on  June  3rd  resolved,  at  his  instance,  to  deprive  Arran 
of  his  ofiice,  because,  by  the  counsel  of  the  Cardinal,  he 
had  broken  "  the  peice  and  contract  of  manage,' '  and  was 
thus  mainly  responsible  for  the  country's  miserable  plight.^ 
^  Ditir7ial,  p.  32.  ^  Hamilton  Papers,  ii.  409-13. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  43 


Sir  George's  account  of  the  transaction  was,  however, 
coloured  so  as,  if  possible,  to  win  for  it  Henry's  approval. 
The  original  resolution  was  that  the  Queen-Dowager  should 
be  made  joint  Regent  with  Arran ;  but  Arran,  having 
declined  to  agree  to  this,  was  meanwhile  suspended  from 
his  office.^  The  most  notable  features  of  the  arrangement 
were  (i)  the  apparent  overthrow  of  the  Cardinal,  (2)  the 
apparent  breach  between  the  Queen-Dowager  and  him, 
and  (3)  the  apparently  close  alliance  between  the  Queen- 
Dowager  and  Angus,  who  was  made  lieutenant-general 
south  of  the  Forth. 

That  the  Cardinal  had  again  lost  repute  by  the  dis- 
astrous results  of  his  anti-English  policy  is  pretty  certain. 
While  Hertford  and  his  staff  were  standing  on  "  the 
hill  without  the  town  "  (the  Calton  Hill,  most  likely),  they 
heard  "  the  women  and  pore  myserable  creatures  of  the 
towne  make  exclamation  and  cryenges  out  upon  the 
Cardynall  in  thies  words  :  '  Wa  worthe  the  Cardynall  ! '  "2 
and  doubtless  these  words  expressed  the  sentiments  of 
very  many  Scots  ;  but  it  is  also  probable  that  the  arrange- 
ment was  in  part  another  effort  to  beguile  Henry; 
and  there  were  other  considerations  involved. 

The  Queen-Dowager  had  both  persistently  warned 
Sadler  against  Arran's  purposes  and  expressed  her  own 
strong  desire  for  a  marriage-treaty  with  England  ;  she  may 
therefore  not  have  been  so  hostile  to  the  English  marriage 
— with  its  magnificent  prospects  for  her  daughter — as  is 
usually  supposed.  If,  at  any  rate,  the  only  choice  was 
between  it  and  her  daughter's  marriage  to  Arran's  son, 
she  could  not  but  prefer  it  ;  indeed,  the  rupture  in  her 

'  State  Papers^  Henry  VIII.,  v.  301-4. 
^  Hamilton  Papers^  ii.  369. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


friendship  with  the  Cardinal  can  hardly  be  explained  except 
by  the  Cardinal's  support  of  the  Arran  marriage,  for,  be 
it  remembered,  the  Cardinal  was  as  strongly  opposed  to 
any  French  marriage  as  he  was  to  the  English  one. 
Still,  if  Sir  George  Douglas,  as  he  asserted  to  Hertford, 
was  the  main  instigator  of  this  peculiar  revolution,  it 
may  have  been,  as  regards  many  of  the  nobles,  chiefly 
a  stage  arrangement  to  delude  and  pacify  Henry.  That, 
at  any  rate  on  the  part  of  Sir  George,  it  was  largely 
this  is  beyond  question.  To  have  succeeded  in  driving 
both  Arran  and  the  Cardinal  from  power  was  also  a 
notable  service  to  Henry,  if  the  facts  were  as  Sir  George 
represented  them  to  be  ;  but  yet  it  was  not  quite  what 
Henry  desired.  Henry's  real  aim  was  to  have  the 
government  himself ;  and  the  selection  of  the  Queen- 
Dowager  as  Regent  was  in  appearance  one  of  the  most 
effective  steps  against  this  purpose  that  could  have  been 
taken. 

The  Queen-Dowager's  overtures,  in  the  name  of  her 
daughter,  on  behalf  of  peace  met,  therefore,  with  a  worse 
than  indifferent  reception.  On  the  ground  that  the  authority 
of  the  "late  governor  was  suspended,"  and  that  there  rested 
no  such  power  either  with  him  or  her  as  could  give  sufficient 
commission  to  ambassadors  to  treat  of  peace,  Henry 
declined  to  grant  an  abstinence  except  on  what  he  must 
have  known  to  have  been,  in  the  circumstances,  impossible 
conditions  :  (i)  that  the  Solway  prisoners  made  their  entry 
within  twenty  days,  and  (2)  that  hostages  of  the  next- 
of-kin  of  Arran,  Argyll,  Huntly,  and  others  were  sent 
as  pledges  for  the  maintenance  of  the  abstinence.^  At  the 
same  time  he  assumed  that  it  was  quite  beneath  his  dignity, 

^  Henry  to  the  Queen-Dowager  in  Hmnilton  Papers,  ii.  418-20. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  45 


in  dealing  with  the  Scots,  to  make  any  mention  of  pledges 
for  his  own  good  faith. 

Thus  the  ruse  of  the  Scots — if  ruse  it  was — came  to 
nothing,  so  far  as  Henry  was  concerned  ;  but  his  unbending 
attitude  necessarily  turned  the  thoughts  of  the  Queen- 
Dowager,  if  they  needed  turning,  more  decidedly  towards 
a  French  marriage,  and  also  impelled  the  Scots  towards 
an  entirely  French  policy.  Until  she  received  Henry's 
uncompromising  reply,  no  application  had  been  made  by 
her  for  French  help.  That,  on  July  20th,  her  envoy  was 
caught  with  letters  of  her  own  to  the  French  king,  does 
not  necessarily  imply  any  insincerity  in  her  peace  overtures 
to  Henry,  for  the  circumstances  had  been  altered  by 
Henry's  almost  impossible  terms.  The  same  messenger 
carried  letters  from  the  Governour,  the  Cardinall,  and 
other  noble  men  of  the  realm,  addressed  to  the  French 
King"^;  but  their  exact  import  has  not  been  disclosed, 
so  that  it  is  impossible  to  tell  whether  they  were  acting  in 
concert  with  the  Queen-Dowager  or  not.  Yet  Henry's 
attitude  was  bound  to  effect  a  reconciliation  between  the 
rival  parties,  which  took  place  after  a  meeting  of  separate 
conventions.  As  to  its  exact  nature,  there  is  no  definite 
information  ;  but  to  represent  it,  as  historians  have  lately 
done,  as  the  triumph  of  Arran  and  the  Cardinal  is  hardly 
justifiable.  On  the  contrary,  it  seems  to  have  been  based 
on  the  practical  acceptance  by  Arran  of  the  Stirling 
resolution  of  June  3rd,  whereby  the  Queen-Dowager  was 
admitted  to  joint  authority  with  him  as  Governor  ;  for 
while,  before  her  election  as  Regent,  she  seems  to  have 
taken  no  part  in  public  business,  not  only  does  her  name, 
from  the  earliest  meeting  of  the  council  in  the  first  volume 
Ha?mlton  Papers^  ii.  43/j. 


46  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


of  the  Register  appear  thus,  "  F  resent  thus  ^  Regina^ 
et  Guhernator^''  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  she  henceforth 
took  a  very  prominent  part  in  the  management  of 
affairs. 

The  triumph  of  the  Cardinal  and  Arran  was  mainly  a 
triumph  over  the  Douglases.  On  giving  their  formal 
submission  to  the  new  arrangement,  the  Douglases,  on 
December  I2th,  received  full  pardon  for  their  past  treasons  ; 
but  this  necessarily  annihilated  any  faint  faith  of  Henry 
in  their  professions  of  loyalty  to  him,  although  Shrewsbury, 
on  February  17th,  reported,  on  the  word  of''  Patie  Grime," 
a  Scottish  spy,  that  Angus  affirmed  "  he  loved  the  Kynges 
majestie  best  of  all  men,"  and  that  since  Lennox  was  married 
to  "  the  woman  whom  he  most  loved  in  all  the  worlde," 
he  would  do  his  utmost  to  make  Lennox  "  chief  ruler  in 
Scotland."  ^  Presumably  Angus,  when  he  uttered  these 
edifying  sentiments,  was  unaware  that  the  English  warden 
had  already  been  offered  by  Henry  2,000  crowns  to  trap 
him,  and  1,000  crowns  to  trap  Sir  George ;  but  when 
he  learned  that  Sir  Ralph  Eure  had  received  from  Henry 
a  grant  of  any  lands  he  could  conquer  in  the  Merse  and 
Teviotdale,  he  affirmed  that  if  he  came  to  take  seisin,  he 
would  write  him  an  instrument  of  possession  ''  on  his 
skin,  with  sharp  pens  and  bloody  ink."  Something  like 
this  feat  he  was  also  able  to  accomplish,  for  when  Eure 
penetrated  into  Melrose  and  disgraced  the  tombs  of  the 
Douglases,  Angus  had  his  revenge  on  him  on  February  27th 
at  Ancrum  Muir,  where  this  ''  fell  cruel  man  and  over 
cruel,"  as  Arran,  on  witnessing  his  body,  described  him,^ 
was  numbered  amongst  the  eight  hundred  of  his  followers 
who  were  slain. 

*  Hamilton  Papers^  ii.  552.  *  Ibid.,  ii.  563. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND 


47 


The  Ancrum  triumph  was,  however,  Scotland's  solitary 
stroke  of  good  luck,  and  it  did  little  to  alleviate  its 
condition,  although  Henry,  now  in  dread  of  a  French 
alliance,  gave  intimation  that  he  would  refrain  from  taking 
revenge  for  Ancrum  provided  the  nobility,  at  their  con- 
vention to  be  held  on  April  1 5th,  would  agree  to  the 
treaties  of  peace  and  marriage.  As  was,  however,  almost 
inevitable,  this  proposal  at  more  than  the  eleventh  hour 
was  rejected.-^  Its  rejection  led  to  the  formation  of  a 
plot  against  Beaton's  life,  to  which  Henry  gave  his  consent  ; 
and  though  the  dastardly  political  device  was  not  immedi- 
ately fruitful,  it  at  least  encouraged  the  successful  conspiracy 
against  Beaton's  life  in  the  following  year. 

Meanwhile,  any  advantage  Scotland  might  have  gained 
by  the  French  contingent  of  three  thousand  foot  and  five 
hundred  horse  was  neutralised  by  the  treachery  of  Angus 
and  the  Douglases,  who,  having  revenged  their  own  private 
wrongs  on  Sir  Ralph  Eure,  found  it  advisable  still  to  pose 
to  Henry  as  his  friends.  They  therefore  took  care  that  a 
strong  invading  force,  of  which  the  rearguard  was  com- 
manded by  Angus,  should  retire  before  much  inferior 
numbers,  after  the  capture  of  a  few  unimportant  strongholds  ; 
and  they  even  followed  this  up  by  advising  the  occupation 
in  harvest  time  of  the  south  of  Scotland  by  a  strong 
English  force,  in  order  to  terrorise  the  Scots  into  a  renewal 
of  the  marriage  negotiations.  Charity  almost  compels  the 
supposition  that  the  Douglases  believed  that  the  presence  of 
Hertford  in  force,  would  be  sufficient  to  induce  the  Scots 
to  treat,  or  at  least  that  they  had  but  a  faint  idea  of  what 
their  suggestion  might  result  in — a  wholesale  devastation 
of  southern  Scotland  ;  five  abbeys  and  market  towns,  forty- 
*  Thorpe,  Scottish  State  Papers,  i.  49-50. 


48 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


three  villages,  and  sixteen  fortified  places  being  left  in  ruins 
by  the  English  hordes. 

Such  wanton  outrages  only,  meanwhile,  strengthened  the 
hands  of  the  anti-English  party.  Even  the  assassination  of 
the  Cardinal,  on  May  29th  of  the  following  year  (1546),  in 
no  degree  assisted  Henry  towards  the  attainment  of  his  fond 
ambition.  What  might  have  been  the  results  of  Beaton's 
survival  on  the  future  of  the  two  kingdoms,  or  the  fortunes 
of  Catholicism,  is  of  course  rather  a  matter  of  conjecture 
than  of  positive  conviction  ;  but  the  sequel  seems  to  show 
that  he  had  already  done  most  of  the  good  or  evil  w^hich 
it  was  possible  for  him  to  do  either  to  Scotland  or 
Catholicism.  To  him  probably  belongs  the  main  credit 
of  saving  Scotland  from  Henry's  clutches  ;  but  this  had 
been  practically  achieved  before  Beaton's  death,  for,  although 
the  Ririous  efforts  of  the  English  to  concuss  Scotland  into 
obedience  were  to  be  continued  even  after  the  death  of 
Henry,  the  foundations  of  resistance  that  had  been  laid 
by  Beaton  remained  secure.  Then,  as  for  Catholicism,  the 
persecutive  methods  of  Beaton  could  not,  in  the  long  run, 
have  been  of  advantage  to  it,  or  have  stayed  the  operation 
of  the  manifold  causes  that  were  hastening  its  fall.  Even, 
also,  had  not  the  Cardinal,  when  his  life  was  snatched 
from  him,  been  well  advanced  in  years,  a  national  ecclesi- 
astical confederation  dependent  largely  on  the  existence  of 
one  man  must,  should  that  man  do  nothing  to  breathe 
new  life  into  it,  be  regarded  as  already  doomed.  As  it 
was,  his  removal  tended,  for  the  time  being,  to  strengthen 
rather  than  to  weaken  the  French  party.  It  gave  an  addi- 
tional turn  to  the  ''adamantine  spindle"  on  v>-hich  the  fate 
of  the  infant  Mary  was  being  wound,  and  rendered  it  more 
certain  than  ever  that  her  husband  was  to  be  a  French  prince. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND 


The  regency  of  Arran  now  became  more  insecure, 
and  he  had  well-nigh  to  abandon  hope  of  obtaining 
the  hand  of  the  young  Queen  for  his  son.  This  was 
significantly  indicated  by  a  remarkable  incident  at  a  meeting 
of  the  Privy  Council  on  June  nth  :  "The  quhilk  day, 
my  Lord  Governour  in  presens  of  the  Quenis  Grace  and 
Lordis  of  counsel,  for  gude  concurrence  to  be  had  for 
the  commoun  wele  of  the  realme  and  stanching  of  divisioun, 
hes  dischargit  the  contract  and  band  maid  to  him  be 
quhatsomeuir  noble  men  of  the  realme,  anentis  Our  Soverane 
Ladyis  meriage,  and  sail  distroy  the  samyn,  and  dischargis 
all  noble  men  that  hes  consentit  thairto  of  the  said  band, 
and  sicUk  the  Quenis  Grace  hes  dischargit  all  bandis  maid 
to  hir  be  all  maner  of  noble  men  in  contrair  the  said 
contract,"  etc.^  At  the  same  meeting  the  Earls  of  Angus 
and  Cassihs,  Lord  Maxwell,  and  Sir  George  Douglas  de- 
clared their  adherence  to  the  Act  of  Parliament  of  1543, 
dissolving  "  the  pece  and  the  contract  of  mariage  maid 
between  the  realm  of  Englande  and  this  realme."  ^  There 
was  thus  outwardly  manifested  among  the  majority  of 
the  nobles  a  general  desire  to  sink  their  differences  in  a 
combination  against  the  common  enemy. 

The  Scots  were  then  probably  in  ignorance  of  England's 
conclusion  of  a  treaty  with  France  ^  on  June  7th — ratified 
by  Henry  VIIL  on  July  28th — in  which  they  had  the 
option  of  being  comprehended,  provided  they  accepted  the 
treaties  of  England  of  1543  ;  but  the  Privy  Council,  in 
July  or  August,  resolved  to  accept  the  comprehension, 
without  prejudice  to  the  liberties  of  the  realm.^  From 


^  Register  of  the  Privy  Council,  i.  27.  2  /^/^_^  i_  29. 

'  Rymer's  Foedera,  xv.  93-7.  *  Register  of  the  Privy  Council^  i.  35. 

VOL.  I.  4 


so 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


this  time,  therefore,  a  kind  of  armed  truce  prevailed  until 
after  the  death  of  Henry. 

In  September,  ambassadors  were  sent  to  enter  into 
negotiations  with  him,  but  the  political  situation  was  com- 
plicated by  the  fact  that  the  assassins  of  the  Cardinal, 
who  were  holding  the  Castle  of  St.  Andrews,  had  applied 
to  him  for  help  and  had  accepted  his  conditions — that 
they  should  undertake  to  advance  the  marriage  between 
his  son  and  the  young  Queen.  Henry  therefore  demanded 
that  "  the  Governor  and  Lords  of  Scotland,"  as  a  proof 
of  their  sincerity,  should  abandon  the  siege  of  the  castle. 

Since  Henry  had  himself  been  concerned  in  a  previous 
conspiracy  against  the  Cardinal,  he  could  hardly,  of  course, 
admit  that  the  holders  of  the  castle  had  done  anything 
deserving  of  punishment  ;  but  then  his  whole  conduct 
towards  the  Cardinal's  assassination  was  a  flagrant  inter- 
ference with  the  internal  affairs  of  Scotland  ;  and  this, 
followed  bv  the  barefaced  attempt  to  forbid  the  punishment 
of  the  malefactors,  meant  that  he  had  abated  no  jot  of 
his  pretensions  to  make  his  will  the  supreme  law  in  Scotland, 
though  he  did  not  live  to  resume  the  old  violent  methods 
of  seeking  to  obtain  his  purpose. 

The  death  of  the  great  English  king  on  January  28th, 
1 547 — within  less  than  seven  months  of  the  removal  of 
his  great  enemy  the  Cardinal — did  not  materially  affect 
the  Scottish  situation.  Like  the  Cardinal,  Henry  had  as 
regards  Scotland  really  finished  the  work  given  him  to 
do.  Had  England  on  his  death  immediately  resumed  its 
allegiance  to  the  Pope,  and  had  this  been  coupled  by  a 
more  sincerely  friendly  attitude  towards  Scotland,  the 
marriage  alliance  might  very  well  have  been  accomplished. 

But,  meanwhile,  there  was  the  impassable  barrier  of 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  51 


religious  differences,  which,  if  not  created,  had  been  made 
more  unsurmountable  by  the  two  great  opponents  who 
had  just  left  the  scene  ;  and  some  ^ft^tn  years  were  to 
elapse  before  this  particular  barrier — and  by  this  time 
others  had  arisen — against  a  permanent  alliance  between 
the  two  countries  was  to  be  removed.  With  a  personality 
so  distinctive  and  overmastering,  Henry  was  bound  to 
leave  a  strong  individual  impress  on  the  general  policy 
of  the  nation  he  had  governed  for  nearly  forty  years.  By 
himself  also  nominating  the  Council  of  Regency,  he  had 
a  pretty  certain  guarantee  of  continuity  in  his  policy. 

To  some  extent,  it  is  true,  his  intentions  w^ere  frustrated 
by  Hertford.  After  inducing  the  Council  to  nominate 
him  Protector  of  the  Realm,  Hertford  virtually  assumed 
the  functions  of  a  sovereign  ;  but,  as  it  happened,  this 
made  no  material  difference  in  the  relations  between  England 
and  Scotland.  Hertford's  bent  was  rather  towards  a  more 
definite  Protestantism  than  that  of  Henry,  and  he  had 
thus  even  stronger  reasons  than  those  of  Henry  for  adopting 
towards  Scotland  what  was  a  coercive  policy,  by  whatever 
specious  pretensions  it  might  be  coloured. 

On  his  deathbed  Henry  had  urged  that  the  efforts  to 
concuss  the  Scots  into  the  English  marriage  should  be 
persevered  with  ;  and  the  elevation  of  Hertford — hence- 
forth known  as  the  Duke  of  Somerset — to  the  protectorship 
insured  that  nothing  would  be  wanting  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  Henry's  last  wishes  that  could  be  effected  by 
mere  resolute  brutality.  But  Somerset  did  not,  as  Froude 
supposes,^  advance  claims  to  an  authority  over  Scotland 
not  advanced  by  Henry.  That  Henry  refused  to  call  in 
question  the  feudal  independence  of  Scotland  can  hardly 

^  History  of  England,  cab.  ed.,  iv.  274. 


52 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


be  admitted  ;  if  he  pretended  to  resign  rights  to  overlord- 
ship  which  he  had  never  been  able  to  exercise,  it  was  merely 
that,  by  means  of  the  marriage,  he  might  obtain  definite 
possession  of  them. 

On  the  other  hand,  Somerset  did  not,  as  Froude  affirms, 
^'  resolve  to  disdnguish  his  protectorate  by  reviving  the 
pretensions  and  renewing  the  poHcy  of  Edward  I.,  by 
putting  forward  the  formal  claim  of  England  to  the 
dominion  of  the  entire  island."  This  claim,  in  its  naked, 
unabashed  form,  Somerset  sought  to  revive  at  a  later  period  ; 
but,  meantime,  he  merely  proposed  to  continue  the  forcible 
but  disingenuous  policy  of  Henry  :  according  to  the  in- 
structions of  Norroy  "  herald,  sent  to  the  Queen-Dowager 
and  Governor  after  Pinkie,  Somerset's  invasion  of  Scotland 
was  "  only  to  bring  to  good  effect  the  godly  purpose  of 
the  marriage  between  King  Edward  VI.  and  Queen  Mary." 
But  for  Somerset,  as  for  Henry,  to  take  upon  him 
practically  to  decide  the  whole  question  of  the  Scottish 
marriage  and  to  prescribe  to  Scotland  what  course  of  political 
action  she  ought  to  regard  as  most  to  her  advantage,  virtually 
implied  the  old  assumption  of  overlordship. 

Of  more  important  consequence,  both  to  the  Scottish 
nation  and  to  the  fortunes  of  the  young  Queen,  than  the 
death  either  of  Henry  or  the  Cardinal,  was  the  death,  on 
March  31st,  1547,  of  Francis  I.  of  France;  for  not  only 
was  his  successor,  Henry  II.,  a  more  strenuous  opponent 
of  England  than  his  father,  but  the  Guises,  brothers  of  the 
Queen-Dowager  of  Scotland,  already  exercised  great  ascend- 
ancy over  him,  and  were  bent  on  utilising  it  to  the  utmost 
for  the  advancement  of  their  family.  The  marriage  of 
their  niece  to  the  Dauphin  was  a  matter  of  prime  concern  to 
them  ;  and  since  they  could  bring  special  influence  to  bear 


After  the  picture  by  Holbein. 


EDWARD  SEVMOUR,  DUKE  OF  SOMERSET. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  53 


both  on  Henry  II.  and  their  sister,  the  chances  of  a 
French  marriage  became  likelier  than  ever.  The  first  result 
of  Henry's  accession  was  the  arrival  in  Scotland  of  the 
French  ambassador,  the  Sieur  d'Oysell,  in  order  to  confirm 
the  ancient  league  between  the  two  countries.  He  remained 
at  the  Scottish  court,  and  it  was  he  who  arranged  that  the 
French  king  should  do  the  Scots  the  friendly  act  of  sending 
galleys  for  the  capture  of  St.  Andrews  Castle,  which  capitu- 
lated on  the  last  day  of  July. 

Though  the  capture  of  the  castle  could  hardly  be 
termed  an  act  of  hostility  to  England,  it  probably  hastened 
the  purpose  of  Somerset  for  an  invasion  of  Scotland. 
Somerset's  resolve  only  tended  to  strengthen  the  Scottish 
connection  with  France  ;  England's  only  chance  of  success 
now  lay  in  the  subjugation  of  the  country  ;  ^  and  though 
Scotland  was  no  doubt  weakened  by  internal  discord,  it 
was  not  so  weakened  as  to  enable  Somerset  to  crown  his 
enterprise  with  triumph. 

In  addition  to  Lennox  and  Glencairn,  whom  Somerset 
could  entirely  depend  on,  Bothwell,  Cassilis,  Marischal  and 
Lord  Gray  were  favourers  of  England  ;  but  the  discovery 
of  their  names  in  a  register  book  of  Henry  Balnaves,  found 
in  St.  Andrews  Castle,^  had  revealed  their  intended 
treachery  ;  Bothwell,  the  most  dangerous  of  them,  had  been 
sent  to  prison  ;  and  the  discovery  only  tended  to  redouble 
the  efforts  of  the  Governor  and  the  Council  in  the  adoption 
of  measures  for  resistance. 

For  the  first  time  since  the  death  of  James  V.  a  great 

*  Professor  Pollard  {Somerset,  p.  147)  describes  Somerset's  invasion  as  "  an 
imperative  measure  of  defence  "  against  the  Scottish  compact  with  France  ; 
but  it  was  the  "aggression"  of  England  that  drove  Scotland  into  the  arms 
of  France. 

*  Scottish  Papers,  i.  14. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


combined  effort  was  made  by  the  Scots  to  dare  the  might 
of  England  in  open  conflict  and  to  hurl  back  the  en- 
croachers  on  the  country's  liberties.  At  an  Edinburgh 
Convention  on  July  ist,  all  present  pledged  themselves 
that,  should  the  country  be  invaded  in  harvest  time,  as 
was  expected,  they  would  be  reddy  to  defend  their  auld 
liberties  "  to  the  utmost  of  their  power/ 

All  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  sixty  were  therefore 
ordered  to  be  ready  by  August  ist  to  obey  the  summons 
to  assemble  in  arms  after  eight  days'  warning  ;  and  to  render 
the  summons  as  effectual  as  possible,  the  sacred  symbol  of 
the  Fiery  Cross  was  sent  throughout  every  district  of  the 
country.  As  the  result  of  the  exceptional  efforts  that 
were  put  forth,  and  of  the  deep  resentment  at  previous 
outrages,  the  country  was  agitated  throughout  by  a  strong 
wave  of  enthusiasm  ;  and  no  fewer  than  thirty-six  thousand 
Scots  hastened  from  all  parts  towards  Edinburgh  to  be 
mustered  under  the  several  leaders.  The  muster  included 
representatives  of  every  rank,  calling  and  persuasion,  both 
zealous  "  professors  of  the  Evangel "  from  Fife,  Forfar, 
the  Mearns,  and  the  "  Westland,"  all  under  the  previous 
English  dependent,  Angus,  and  an  immense  number  of 
priests  and  canons  "  with  their  shaven  crowns  and  black 
jackis,"^  who  fought  under  a  sacred  white  banner. 

The  Scottish  army,  on  September  8th,  1547,  drew  up 
on  a  strong  position  behind  Musselburgh  :  and,  in  order  to 
encourage  every  one  to  do  his  utmost  against  the  foe,  it 
was  decreed  at  a  Convention,  held  at  Monkton  Hall,  that 
if  any  kirkman,  abbot,  prior,  or  any  religious  man  "  should 
perish  in  battle,  his  next-of-kin  should  have  his  benefice  ; 

^  Register  of  the  Privy  Cou7icil,  i.  175. 
2  Knox's  Works,  i.  210. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  55 


and  that  in  the  case  of  laymen,  whether  nobles  or  commons, 
special  facilities  should  be  given  for  inheritance  by  their 
relatives.^ 

The  position  of  the  Scots  was  a  very  strong  one,  the 
Esk  extending  in  front,  while  their  left  was  protected  by 
the  sea,  and  their  right  by  a  deep  morass  stretching  towards 
Dalkeith.  In  numbers  they  were  two  to  one  of  the 
English,  and  had  they  waited  the  attack,  the  victory  might 
have  been  theirs;  but  the  very  enthusiasm  to  which  they 
had  been  wrought  up  was  their  undoing  ;  for,  consisting  so 
largely  of  men  almost  unused  to  arms,  they  were  no  match 
in  fair  fight  for  the  disciplined  and  experienced  English  ; 
and  their  attempt,  on  September  loth,  to  overwhelm  their 
foes  by  mere  weight  of  numbers  resulted  in  utter  disaster. 

Had  the  day,  hov/ever,  gone  otherwise  than  it  did,  the 
chances  of  the  English  marriage  had  possibly  not  been 
rendered  so  hopeless  as  they  were  by  Somerset's  victory  and 
the  butchery  that  followed  it.  An  overwhelming  defeat  of 
the  English,  involving  the  death  or  capture  of  Somerset, 
might  possibly  have  led  to  a  more  considerate  treatment  of 
the  Scots  by  their  "  auld  enemies  "  ;  but  the  one  main 
consequence  of  the  disaster  of  Pinkie  Cleugh  was  to  make 
the  English  marriage  impossible. 

The  vengeance  wreaked  on  over  ten  thousand  of  the 
fugitive  Scots,  the  conflagration  of  Leith,  the  occupation 
of  Inchcolm  and  Inchkeith,  the  capture  of  Broughty  Castle, 
were  the  only  tangible  results  of  Somerset*s  great  expedition. 
Although  a  force  under  Wharton  and  Lennox  overran 
Annandale,  it  effected  no  permanent  occupation  of  it ;  and 
when  Somerset,  from  lack  of  provisions,  retired  with  his 
victorious  army  across  the  Tweed,  he  left  behind  him  mainly 
*  Laws  and  Acts  of  Parliament  (Edinburgh,  1682),  part  i.,  pp.  265-6. 


56  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


exasperation,  detestation,  and  a  firmer  determination  than 
ever  to  make  no  terms  with  the  English. 

The  advance  of  the  English  to  Leith,  after  Pinkie, 
caused  the  Queen-Dowager  and  her  daughter  to  remove 
from  Stirling  to  the  monastery  of  Inchmahone,  a  secluded 
island  in  the  lake  of  Menteith.  There  was,  in  those  days, 
a  decided  advantage  in  having  for  a  place  of  refuge  the 
defence  of  a  large  circular  sheet  of  water  ;  but  whither 
the  child  had  been  spirited  was  evidently  kept  a  profound 
secret.  The  English  spies  knew  nothing  of  it  ;  it  is  not 
mentioned  even  in  the  Diurnal  of  Occurrents  ;  and  all  that 
was  known  to  de  Selve,  the  French  ambassador  in  London, 
was  that  the  child  had  been  taken  "  dans  le  pays  des 
sauvages."  ^  An  oval  space  in  the  grounds  of  the  ruined 
monastery  surrounded  by  boxwood — traditionally  known 
as  "  Queen  Mary's  Bower  " — suggested  to  Dr.  John  Brown, 
author  of  %ah  and  his  Friends^  the  charming,  but  groundless, 
fancy  that  it  preserved  the  outlines  of  "  Queen  Mary's 
child  garden." 

Mary  remained  but  a  week  or  two  at  Inchmahone. 
Bishop  Leslie  states  that  she  and  her  mother  returned  to 
Stirling  as  soon  as  she  had  news  of  the  retirement  of 
Somerset  ;  and  as  Stirling  is  within  a  few  hours'  ride  of 
the  Lake  of  Menteith,  Leslie's  statement  is  supported  by 
probability.  In  any  case  she  had  probably  returned  early 
in  October,  for  in  the  middle  of  that  month  the  Queen- 
Dowager  was  in  Edinburgh.^  But  the  invasions  of  Grey  of 
Wilton  and  of  Lennox,  the  one  by  the  East  and  the  other 
by  the  West  route,  as  well  as  the  suspicion  that  Grey's 
expedition  included  the  siege  of  Stirling,  caused  the 
child's  transference  to  Dumbarton,  which,  with  ulterior 

*  Correspondance  Politique^  p.  204,  *  Scottish  Papers^  i.  20. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  57 


aims,  the  Queen-Dowager  induced  Arran  to  deliver  up 
to  her.  Writing  from  Cockburnspath  Feb.  22nd,  1 547-8, 
Grey  reported  that  she  had  already  been  removed 
thither ;  ^  but  the  news  was  premature.  De  la  Chapelle 
states  that  she  was  removed  when  the  approach  of  the 
enemy  was  imminent  ;  ^  Robert  Moffet  announced  to 
Wharton  that  she  had  entered  Dumbarton  on  the  last 
Friday  of  February;^  and,  according  to  the  Treasurer's 
Accounts,  her  guardians,  Lords  Erskine  and  Livingstone, 
departed  with  her  to  Dumbarton  on  the  last  day  of  the 
month.* 

Though  an  arrangement  for  the  marriage  of  Mary  to 
the  Dauphin  had  now  become  inevitable,  there  is  some 
dubiety  as  to  when  the  Council  agreed  to  recommend  it. 
According  to  LabanofF,  ^  a  definite  decision  was  arrived  at 
on  February  8th,  and  Dr.  Hay  Fleming^  even  infers  from 
certain  condensed  references  in  Thorpe's  Calendar  that  "  the 
removal  of  Mary  to  France  was  discussed,  as  well  as  the 
propriety  of  placing  the  principal  strongholds  in  the  hands 
of  their  allies,"  at  a  Council  meeting  at  Stirling  on 
November  2nd  ;  but  the  references  on  which  he  founds 
his  opinion  merely  embody  rumours  and  surmises,  and, 
even  so,  they  do  not  support  his  inference. 

On  November  5th  the  laird  of  Longniddry  wrote  to 
Somerset  that  there  was  great  peril  of  the  Queen  and 
Governor  resolving  to  adopt  such  momentous  decisions. 
On  November  2nd  Luttrell  wrote  that  a  spy  had  just 
brought  news  that  the  Scots  were  to  send  ambassadors  to 
France  and  Denmark  for  help,  and  that  it  was  proposed 


^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  8i. 
'  Scottish  Papers,  i.  93. 
Lettres  de  Marie  Stuart,  i.  3. 


2  Teulet's  Relations,  i.  167. 

^  Note  in  Knox's  VVo?ks,  i.  219. 

^  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  i.  194. 


58 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


to  *'  ally  the  young  Queen  with  Denmark  rather  than 
England."  ^  The  report  of  Ninian  Cockburn  to  Grey  of 
Wilton  was  merely  that  on  the  second  day  of  the  Council 
meeting  the  Queen-Dowager  said  that  she  had,  with  the 
Governor's  advice,  written  urgently  to  France  for  speedy 
help,  and  that  if  she  did  not  get  it  the  Scots  would  seek 
to  obtain  the  best  terms  they  could  from  England  ;  ^  and 
although  Grey  conjectured  that  the  conditions  offered  to 
Henry  II.  were  "  the  strengths  of  Scotland  and  the  princess 
to  be  at  his  pkasure,"  ^  it  is  clear  from  the  sequel  that  no 
such  conditions  were  agreed  to  by  the  Council  either  in 
November  or  the  following  February. 

According  to  various  reports,  certain  French  officers 
landed  at  Dumbarton  towards  the  end  of  December,  but 
most  probably  they  were  volunteers.  The  version  of  Sir 
Ralph  Bulmer,  that  they  were  fifty  captains,  who  had 
brought  with  them  sufficient  money  to  pay  for  a  year  ten 
thousand  Scots  whom  they  were  to  command,  had  evidently 
as  little  foundation  in  fact  as  the  statement  that  six  thousand 
Frenchmen  were  then  only  waiting  for  a  fair  wind  to 
embark  for  Scotland."*  The  difficulty  of  the  Queen- 
Dowager  was  to  induce  the  Scots  to  agree  to  terms  that 
would  suit  the  King  of  France,  and  the  utmost  caution  was 
necessary  in  dealing  with  the  subject. 

An  attempt  had  been  made  to  win  Arran  by  bestowing 
on  him,  in  February,  the  Duchy  of  Chatelherault ;  but 
Arran,  from  very  weakness,  was  notoriously  fickle,  and 
the  Queen-Dowager  perfectly  well  knew  that  even  yet 
he  would  seek  to  defeat  her  purpose  if  in  any  way  he 
could.    Further,  it  was  only  necessity  that  could  induce 

^  Scottish  Papers^  i.  37.  *  Scottish  State  Paper's,  i.  41. 

5  Ibid.,  i.  42.  *  Ibid.,  i.  55. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  59 


him,  or  the  majority  of  the  Scots,  to  place  themselves,  in 
any  degree,  in  the  power  of  the  King  of  France,  and  this 
necessity  did  not  become  urgent  until  the  occupation  of 
Haddington  by  Lord  Grey  of  Wilton  in  April.  Previous 
attempts  to  gain  a  permanent  footing  in  the  country  had 
caused  some  concern,  but  a  permanent  occupation  of 
Haddington  threcitened  its  subjugation. 

The  transference  of  Mary  to  Dumbarton  at  the  end  of 
February  was  caused  by  Grey  of  Wilton's  early  expedition, 
which  also  led  the  Scots  to  send  more  urgent  appeals  to 
Henry  II.  of  France  for  help  ;  but  it  was  the  resolve, 
manifested  in  the  April  expedition,  to  make  Haddington 
a  mihtary  depot,  that  convinced  the  Scots  of  the  desperate 
nature  of  their  case  unless  they  obtained  artillery  and 
ammunition,  as  well  as  skilled  aid,  from  France.  Yet  as 
late  as  June  25th — after  the  actual  arrival  of  French  aid — 
the  Queen-Dowager  could  only  promise  to  do  her  best  to 
meet  the  French  king's  wishes,^  and  was  praying  him  not 
to  withdraw  his  army  if  all  his  desires  could  not  formally 
be  granted. 

A  good  deal  of  course  depended  on  the  attitude  of 
Arran,  but  Arran's  attitude  depended  largely  on  that  of 
others.  If,  also,  his  only  choice  were  between  the  French 
and  the  English  match,  he  now  much  preferred  the  former. 
After  all  that  had  come  and  gone,  to  have  placed  himself 
in  the  hands  of  Somerset  would  have  been  little  short  of 
madness.  But  he  naturally  hesitated  to  bid  farewell  to 
his  long-cherished  ambition  as  to  the  royal  marriage. 

Huntly — who,  having  been  captured  at  Pinkie  and 
having  obtained  his  liberty  on  condition  of  secretly  aiding 
the  English  cause,  was  now  acting  a  double  part — told 
*  Teulet's  Relations,  i.  173. 


6o  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Grey  of  Wilton  that  the  Queen-Dowager  had  been  asking 
his  brother's  help  to  convey  the  young  Queen  to  France, 
which  he  stated  he  would  not  do,  because  the  Governor 
held  Dumbarton  ;  ^  but  we  learn  from  another  source 
that  the  Governor  was  enraged  at  now  finding  it  in  the 
hands  of  the  French;^  and  on  June  7th,  Grey  reported 
that  the  Governor  was  so  grieved  at  the  spoil  and 
devasting  of  Dalkeith,  passyoned  by  his  unadvised  render- 
ing of  Dumbarton  to  the  Queen,  tormented  at  his  son's 
delivery  to  France,  his  estimation  abated,  his  vain  expectation 
at  an  end,  the  French  aid  so  slow,  some  say  gone  back, 
that  he  has  thrown  himself  into  a  sharp  sickness,  and  lies  at 
the  point  of  death."  ^  He  was  at  last  face  to  face  with  the 
inevitable,  and  his  daydream  was  rapidly  dissolving.  Yet, 
greatly  as  he  had  been  influenced  by  a  quite  pardonable 
family  ambition,  he  probably,  notwithstanding  his  own  keen 
personal  disappointment,  felt,  like  the  majority  of  the  Scots, 
a  sincere  satisfaction  in  having  so  far  been  able  to  thwart 
the  overweening  purposes  of  Henry  VIII.  and  Somerset. 

Before  any  binding  agreement  had  been  made  with 
France,  the  French  transports,  with  a  splendid  force  of  six 
thousand  men,  under  the  Sieur  d'Esse,  and  with  all  necessary 
siege  material,  appeared  on  June  12th  off  the  Scottish 
coast,  though,  on  account  of  adverse  winds,  a  landing  was 
not  effected  until  five  or  six  days  later.^ 

On  the  1 8th  d'Oysell  was  able  to  assure  the  Duke 
d'Aumale  of  the  excellent  impression  produced  by  the  arrival 
of  such  powerful  succour — that  the  Queen-Dowager  and 
Arran  were  better  disposed  than  ever  to  the  deliverance 
of  the  strongholds,  and  would  do  so  as  soon  as  possible  ; 


^  Scottish  Papers^  i.  107. 
'  Ibid.y  i.  117. 


'  Ibid.,  i.  97. 
4  Teulet,  i.  164. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  6i 


and  that  after  the  meeting  of  the  Estates,  "  which  would 
be  brief,"  the  young  Queen  would  be  sent  to  France/ 

But  even  the  Queen-Dowager  was  very  much  concerned 
lest,  on  account  of  her  inability  to  persuade  the  Scots  to 
meet  all  the  French  demands,  the  French  troops  should 
be  withdrawn.^  Still,  by  June  24th  she  had  secured  the 
written  consent  of  Angus,  Sir  George  Douglas,  Cassilis, 
Seton,  the  Sheriff  of  Ayr,  several  other  lords  and  barons, 
and  seven  or  eight  bishops,  not  merely  to  the  Queen*s 
marriage  to  the  Dauphin,  but  to  her  being  sent  to 
France — all  this  on  the  promise  of  certain  French 
rewards  ;  ^  and  we  also  learn  from  Knox,"^  that  Huntly 
and  Argyll — who  had  previously  been  following  devious 
courses,  were,  as  well  as  Angus,  made  French  Knights 
of  the  Cockle. 

The  presence  of  the  French  auxiliaries — who,  in  concert 
with  six  thousand  Scots,  now  began  to  encompass  Haddington 
and  on  June  30th  commenced  entrenchments^ — necessarily 
induced  a  greater  readiness  among  the  more  strictly  patriotic 
to  comply  with  the  French  demands  ;  and  thus,  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Estates  in  the  Abbey  of  Haddington  on 
July  ist,  it  was  carried  with  seeming  acclamation  that  the 
ancient  alliance  and  friendship  between  the  two  countries 
should  be  perfected  by  the  marriage  of  the  young  Queen 
to  the  Dauphin,  and  that,  in  preparation  for  this  consumma- 
tion, she  should  now  be  sent  to  France.^ 

As,  in  all  likelihood,  involving  the  permanent  union 
of  the  two  crowns,  the  decision  was  for  Scotland  of  moment- 
ous consequence  ;  for  although  the  Estates  stipulated  that 


^  Teulet,  i.  165. 

'  J  bid.,  i.  171. 

*  Hamilton  Papers,  ii.  597. 


^  Letter,  Ibid.,  i.  173-4. 

*  Works,  i.  217. 

®  Scottish  State  Papers,  i.  136. 


62  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Scotland's  ancient  laws  and  liberties  should  be  preserved, 
the  precise  meaning  of  this  proviso  was  another  matter  ; 
it  did  not  greatly  qualify  the  anticipations  of  the  Queen- 
Dowager  that  "  everything  would  be  put  into  the  hands 
of  the  King  "  [of  France].^  The  main  matter,  as  it  seemed 
to  her,  was  that  the  child  should  be  in  French  hands  ; 
and  thus,  as  soon  after  the  meeting  of  the  Estates  as  she 
decently  could,  she  proceeded  to  Dumbarton  to  arrange 
for  the  departure  of  the  child,  who,  she  hoped,  would 
herself  carry  to  the  French  king  the  news  that  Parliament 
had  agreed  to  send,  in  the  words  of  d'Oysell,  "  la  chose 
qu'il  desire  le  plus  de  recouvrer."- 

But  man  proposes  and  God  disposes.  All  that  Mary 
of  Guise  and  Hc^nry  of  France  expected  from  the  decision 
of  the  Estates  was  not  to  be  realised.  She  counted  that 
it  would  result  in  Scotland  becoming  the  mere  appanage 
of  France,  and  it  was  quite  on  the  cards  that  it  might 
even  finally  lead  to  the  union  of  France,  and  not  merely 
Scotland,  but  Britain,  under  one  crown.  Had  the  Dauphin 
not  been  the  weakling  that  he  was,  and  had  Mary's  eldest 
son  been  a  French  king,  how  different  might  have  been 
the  future  complexion  not  merely  of  British,  but  of 
European  history  ! 

As  it  was,  Scotland  had  hardly  made  her  bargain  with 
France  than  she  began  to  repent  of  it.  For  the  next 
twelve  years  she  was  virtually  to  be  engaged  in  a  struggle 
against  annexation  by  France,  as  she  had  previously  been 
in  a  struggle  against  annexation  by  England.  Combined 
with  this  struggle  there  was  the  great  religious  revolution 
championed  by  Knox,  and  supported  from  various  motives 
by  those  termed  "  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation."  Jealousy 

1  Teulet,  i.  179.  '  Idzd.,  i.  165. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  63 


of  French  domination  was  to  be  a  powerful  factor  in 
inclining  many  to  join  the  standard  of  the  ecclesiastical 
reformers,  and  it  was  mainly  by  the  zeal  of  the  reformers 
that  effectual  resistance  was  to  be  made  to  the  ambitious 
aims  of  France,  until  the  danger  of  annexation  was  removed 
by  the  death  of  Mary's  husband,  then  Francis  II. 

With  the  triumph  of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland  a 
cause  of  alienation  was,  however,  to  be  created  between  the 
young  sovereign  and  the  people.  But  for  her  French 
upbringing,  there  might  have  been  no  rehgious  severance 
between  them,  and  thus  there  need  not  have  been  any 
political  one.  By  the  decision  of  Parliament,  wrote  Knox, 
Mary  was  "  sold  to  go  to  France  to  the  end  that  in 
her  youth  she  should  drink  of  that  lycour,  that  should 
remain  with  hir  all  hir  lyfetime,  for  a  plague  to  this 
realme,  and  for  her  final  distruction."  ^  This  is,  of  course, 
the  language  of  a  bigoted  and  bitter  partisan.  Mary's 
partisans  were  equally  convinced  that  her  final  destruction 
was  brought  about  by  the  wicked  insubordination  and 
intrigues  of  the  Protestants  ;  and  all  that  we  are  here 
concerned  to  note  is  that  the  arrangements  for  her  marriage 
to  the  Dauphin,  however  splendid  the  prospects  it  might 
seem  to  foreshadow,  must  be  reckoned  a  chief  contributory 
influence  towards  her  calamitous  failure  as  a  Scottish 
sovereign. 

Meantime  the  child,  who  had  been  the  occasion  of 
such  various  and  complex  intrigues  and  such  bitter  and 
bloody  strife,  had  been  spending  her  infant  years  in 
the  palace  on  the  isolated  rock  of  Stirling.  Tales  would 
probably  be  told  her  of  the  evil  deeds  of  Scotland's  "  auld 
enemies,"  and  of  the  devastations  which  on  one  occasion 

^  JVorks,  i.  219. 


64  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


reached  to  within  six  miles  of  Stirling  ;  but  the  wide 
and  beautiful  prospect  which  surrounded  her  rock  on  all 
sides,  was  for  the  most  part  a  scene  of  peace  ;  and  her 
days  passed  without  any  incident,  suggestive  of  the  hideous 
conflict  which  had  over  and  over  again  devastated  the 
southern  parts  of  the  kingdom. 

Shortly  after  her  removal  to  Stirling  she  was,  according 
to  Sadler,  sick  of  so  serious  an  illness  as  the  small-pox  ;  ^ 
but  it  is  rather  curious  that  Sadler  should  have  known  what 
"  neither  the  governor  nor  any  man  here  knoweth  ;  and 
we  may  almost  conclude  that  the  malady  was  nothing  worse 
than  chicken-pox.  In  March,  1548,  shortly  after  she 
went  to  Dumbarton,  a  rumour  arose  that  she  was  dead. 
De  Selve,"  who  had  learned  that  she  had  been  very  ill, 
but  on  March  23rd  wrote  that  she  had  recovered,  does 
not  state  what  the  malady  was  ;  but  on  the  i8th  Luttrell 
learned  that  she  was  alive,  and  had  lately  recovered  of 
*'  a  dyseas  that  they  call  here  the  mawlys  or  messellys."  ^ 
In  this  he  is  confirmed  by  La  Chapelle,^  who  doubtless 
had  authentic  information  ;  and  the  statement  of  Huntly 
to  Somerset,  that  she  had  been  "  veray  sick  in  the  small 
pokis,"  ^  was  most  likely  a  mistake.  At  a  later  period 
she  had  small-pox  ;  but  we  can  scarce  credit  that  she 
had  small-pox  three  times. 

Beyond  records  of  her  illnesses  we  have  few  particulars 
of  her  early  life.  From  April,  1545,  she  was  entrusted 
to  the  special  care  of  John,  fifth  Lord  Erskine — who  had 
charge  of  her  father,  James  V.,  during  his  minority — and 
Alexander,  fifth  Lord  Livingstone  of  Callendar.  These 

^  Sadler's  State  Papers^  i.  263.  ^  Corresponda7ice  Politiqtte^  i.  315. 

'  Scottish  Papers,  i.  98.  ^  Teulet,  i.  167. 

^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  99. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  65 


guardians  had  under  their  command  a  powerful  force,  made 
up  of  the  neighbouring  lairds  and  their  retainers,  who, 
on  account  of  their  duties  at  Stirling,  were,  on  July  5th, 
discharged  from  the  necessity  of  "  passing  to  armyis  or 
raidis  aganis  our  auld  inymis  of  England."^  Her  tutors, 
or  spiritual  guardians,  were  John  Erskine,  parish  priest 
of  Inchmahone,  and  Alexander  Scott,  canon  of  the  chapel 
royal  of  Stirling  and  parson  of  Balmaclellan. 

Of  her  early  education  we  are  told  nothing  ;  but  her 
nurses  or  governesses  evidently  amused  her,  occasionally, 
with  ancient  tales  similar  to  those  which  Sir  David  Lyndsay 
recited  to  her  father.  I  have  harde,"  wrote  Randolph 
to  Throckmorton,  April  28  th,  1561,  ofte  tolde  for 
troth,  to  troble  yo'^  L.  w^^,  howe  the  Quene  of  Scotland, 
that  nowe  is,  beinge  a  verie  babe,  seinge  the  cardinall 
in  his  dysguised  garmentes  sodenly  entre  into  the  chamber 
wheare  she  was,  cryed  owte  for  feare,  '  Kyll,  kyll  the 
Redeaton,  he  will  carrie  me  awaye.'  Whether  yt  was 
the  wyll  of  God  that  his  deathe  at  that  tyme  sholde  be 
prophesed  in  ore  infantis  et  lactantis  because  he  had  that 
tyme  solde  her  [which  he  had  not]  and  promysed  that 
she  sholde  be  carried  into  France  or  not,  1  leave  to  the 
dyvine  judgment  of  God.  Redeaton  and  Robin  good 
fellowe  v/ere  brother  barnes,  nevews  to  a  page."  ^ 

For  playfellows  she  probably  had  from  an  early  period 
the  four  Marys  who  accompanied  her  to  France  and 
returned  with  her  to  Scotland.  They  were  daughters  of  the 
houses  of  Fleming,  Livingstone,  Seton,  and  Beaton  of 
Creich.    Mary  Fleming,  probably  a  sister  of  James,  fifth 

^  Reg.  Privy  Council,  i.  iii. 

2  MS.  Add.,  British  Museum,  35,830  f.  79.  The  anecdote  was  first  published 
in  the  Scottish  Historical  Review  for  January,  1905. 

VOL.  I,  5 


66 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Lord  Fleming,  and  daughter  of  Lady  Fleming,  the  Queen's 
aunt — a  natural  daughter  of  James  IV.,  and  the  Queen's 
governess  in  France — became  in  January,  1566-7,  the  wife 
of  the  notable  Maitland  of  Lethington.  Mary  Livingstone, 
daughter  of  the  Queen's  guardian,  generally  known,  on 
account  of  her  vigorous  habit  of  body  as  "  the  lustie," 
married  John  Semple — who,  Knox  tells  us,  was  surnamed 

the  dancer  " — son  of  Robert,  Lord  Semple,  and  was 
ancestress  of  the  poetic  Semples  of  Beltrees.  Mary  Beaton — 
whose  beauty  is  celebrated  by  Buchanan  in  his  Valentiana^ 
— was  the  daughter  of  Sir  John  Beaton  of  Creich,  keeper 
of  Falkland  Palace.  In  1566  she  espoused  Alexander 
Ogilvie  of  Boyne,  whom  Lady  Jean  Gordon  would  have 
preferred  to  have  married,  had  not  the  Queen  assigned 
Lady  Jean  to  Bothwell.  Mary  Beaton's  elder  sister.  Lady 
Scott  of  Buccleugh,  became  in  after  years  a  too  notorious 
friend  of  the  Queen.  Mary  Seton,  alone  of  the  four 
Marys,  remained  unmarried  while  Queen  Mary  was  in 
Scodand,  and  was  sent  for  to  attend  on  the  Queen  in 
England.    To  Knollys  the  Queen  praised  her  skill  as  a 

busker  "  of  the  hair.  In  a  well-known  ballad  of  doubtful 
origin,  mention  is  made  of  the  tragedy  of  Mary  Hamilton, 
one  of  the  Queen's  Marys ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  amongst 
the  names  of  the  dames,  damoiselles,  et  femmes  de 
chambre  "  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  in  France  occurs  that 
of  "  Mademoiselle  Hamilton,  fille  du  gouverneur  d'  Ecosse 
et  Miel  Stuart,  sa  gouvernante."  ^ 

Among  others  who  attended  Mary  to  France  were  several 
young  gentlemen,  including  certain  of  her  half-brothers, 
the  natural  children  of  James  V.    According  to  Chalmers,^ 

^  De  Ruble,  La  Prefniere  Jeunesse  de  Marie  Stuart,  p.  282 
'  Life  of  Mary,  i.  10. 


t  roni  (lie  picture  in  the  possession  of  the  Coniiless  Dowager  of  Seafield,  by  Iter  kind  permission. 


MARY  LIVINGSTONE. 


CHILDHOOD  IN  SCOTLAND  67 


licences  to  travel  were  recorded  for  three  of  them  — 
Robert,  commendator  of  Holyrood,  John,  commendator 
of  Coldingham,  and  Lord  James,  commendator  of 
St.  Andrews  ;  and  various  contemporary  writers  affirm 
that  Lord  James,  whose  influence  on  her  destiny  was 
afterwards  to  be  so  great,  did  accompany  her.  Henry 
Johnes,  a  servant  of  Somerset's  secretary,  reported  that  both 
the  Lords  James  "  declined  to  go,  for  that  they  could  not 
have  the  young  gentylman  of  Fyef  with  theim  "  ;  ^  but  a 
refusal  to  go  on  such  a  plea  as  this  would,  we  must  believe, 
be  deemed  a  high  misdemeanour.  Since  a  licence  was  made 
out  for  Lord  James  of  St  Andrews,  he  probably  went  ;  but 
if  he  did,  he  must  have  returned  to  Scotland  with  the  Scottish 
guardians  and  tutors. 

Even  before  Parliament  had  definitely  decided  that  Mary 
should  be  sent  to  France,  preparations  were  being  made  for 
her  departure  ;  and  on  June  24th  instructions  were  given  that 
the  galleys  to  escort  her  should  set  sail  quietly  that  night 
from  the  Firth  of  Forth,  a  number  of  soldiers  being  placed 
on  board  as  if  their  destination  was  Broughty  Ferry,  while 
their  real  purpose  was  to  reach  the  west  coast.  ^  Statements 
of  several  historians  as  to  their  evading  English  cruisers  have 
no  foundation  in  fact. 

From  the  time,  however,  that  Mary  went  to  Dumbarton 
the  English  must  have  had  a  shrewd  guess  of  an  intention 
that  she  would  set  sail  thence  to  France  :  and  by  June  28th 
Grey  knew  that  the  four  galleys  had  gone  to  Dumbarton  for 
this  purpose.^  The  intention  to  send  her  to  France  was 
necessarily  matter  of  public  knowledge  from  the  time  of  the 
meeting  of  Parliament  ;  but  although  the  Queen-Dowager 

1  Hamilton  Papers,  ii.  6i8.  »  Teulet,  i.  170. 

'  Scottish  Papers,  i.  131. 


68 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


left  the  camp  on  July  13  for  Dumbarton,  no  hurry  was 
shown  in  beginning  the  momentous  voyage,  and  arrange- 
ments could  have  been  made  to  intercept  the  French  ships. 
The  Queen  did  not  embark  until  July  28th,  and  the 
ships  lay  at  anchor  in  the  frith  waiting  for  an  east  wind, 
which  did  not  spring  up  until  August  7th.  Making  a  wide 
circuit  northwards,  the  galleys — which,  in  the  person  of  the 
charming  young  girl,  were  supposed  to  have,  in  a  manner, 
under  their  charge  the  destiny  of  two  and  perhaps  three 
nations — then  returned  southwards  by  the  west  coast  of 
Ireland,  and,  thus  eluding  the  English  ships  that  lay  in 
wait  off  St.  Abb's  Head,  reached  on  August  20th  the 
little  port  of  Roscoff,  near  Brest,  where  a  small  chapel 
has  been  erected  to  mark  the  spot  where  Mary  first 
set  foot  on  French  soil.^ 

^  Dr.  Hay  Fleming  {Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  14)  follows  other  writers  in 
giving  August  13th  as  the  date  of  Mary's  arrival  in  France  ;  but  the  20th,  as 
stated  by  Guiffrey  {Letires  de  Diamine  de  Poytiers,  p.  33),  is  probably  correct. 
There  can  also  be  no  doubt  as  to  Roscoff  being  the  port. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE 

IT  was  not  until  October  i6th — nearly  two  months  after 
she  landed  in  France — that  Mary  arrived  at  the 
Chateau  of  Carri^res  Saint-Denis,  near  St.  Germains.  The 
disembarkation  near  Brest  was  made  for  the  purpose  of 
avoiding  the  English  cruisers  ;  and  after  spending  some 
days  at  RoscofF  she  sailed  for  the  mouth  of  the  Loire, 
and  then  up  the  river  to  Orleans,  whence  she  journeyed 
by  short  stages  to  her  destination.  The  King,  who  was 
then  at  Moulins  at  the  celebration  of  the  marriage  of 
Antoine  de  Bourbon,  left  minute  directions  in  regard  to 
the  preparation  of  her  rooms  ;  it  was  arranged  that  she 
and  the  Princess  Elizabeth  should  stay  together,  the  best 
suite  in  the  chateau  being  selected  for  them  and  their 
attendants.^ 

After  his  return  on  November  9th,  Henry  wrote  in 
enthusiastic  terms  of  the  beauty  and  grace  of  the  child — 
le  plus  parfayt  enfant  que  je  vys  james  "  ;  ^  Catherine  de 
Medici  was  equally  enthusiastic  :  This  small  Queen  of 
Scots,"  she  writes  has  only  to  smile  in  order  to  turn 
all  French  heads."  ^    The  early  years  she  had  spent  in 

*  Lettres  de  Dianne  de  Poyiiers^  ed.  Guiffrey,  p.  33. 
'  Quoted  by  de  Ruble,  p.  31. 

'  De  la  Ferriere,  Lettres  de  Catherine  de  Medids,  p.  liv. 
69 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Scotland  only  gave  a  certain  piquancy  to  her  attractive- 
ness :    '*  Even    her    natural   language,"  says  Brantome," 
"  which  was  very  rustic,  barbarous  and  harsh,  she  spoke 
it  with  such  fine  grace  and  formed  it  in  such  a  manner, 
that  she  made  it  seem  quite  beautiful  and  agreeable  in 
her,  though  not  in  others."^    No  doubt  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  Mary  was  supposed  to  have  brought  with  her 
her  kingdom  of  Scotland  as  a  kind  of  free  gift  to  France, 
every  one  was  disposed  to  be  charmed  with  her  ;  but, 
making  due    allowance   for  a  certain  idealisation  in  the 
eulogies  which  she  universally  evoked,  it  can  hardly  be 
doubted  that  she  was  a  peculiarly  attractive  as  well  as 
quick  and  clever  child.    She  seems  to  have  had  a  certain 
natural  gift  of  predominance,  which,  however,  she  by  no 
means  misused  ;  she  was  the  most  popular  child  amongst 
all  her  young  acquaintances,  and  throughout  hfe  she  made 
friends  easily  amongst  both  men  and  w^omen  ;  her  cordiality 
was  open  and  unstinted  ;  towards  all,  high  and  low,  she 
was  disposed  to  cherish  sincere  goodwill,  unless  provoked 
to  entertain  an  opposite  sentiment.    Proofs  of  her  minute 
and  generous  interest  in  the  welfare  of  her  servants  and 
attendants  are  abundant  in  her  letters  to  her  mother,  while 
she  was  still  a  young  girl  ;  and  her  terrible  misfortunes 
in  later  life  made  her  no  whit  less  considerate  than  before 
of  her  humblest  associates.    Possessing  a  strong  individu- 
ality and  a  rather  emotional  temperament,  she  could  be 
fully  reckoned  on  either  as  friend  or  enemy.    A  camaraderie 
of  even  a  somewhat  masculine  quality  was  one  of  her 
most  marked  social  gifts  ;  and  her  friendship  from  the 
beginning    with  the    sickly  Dauphin  is   strong  evidence 
both  of  her  tact  and  sympathy,  even  although  she  knew 
^  CEtrures  Completes,  ed.  Buchon,  ii.  135. 


After  an  engraving  of  the  draiving  by  I-'ra!i,,ois  Lionet,  /orDteriy  in  the  possession  of  the 
Earl  of  Carlisle,  now  i7i  the  Mnsee  Conde  at  Cha^itilly. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 
At  the  age  of  9  years. 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE 


that  much  of  the  glory  of  her  own  future  depended  upon 
the  friendship. 

The  effect  of  Mary's  genial  and  friendly  disposition 
was  necessarily  enhanced  by  her  personal  charms  ;  no 
blemish  in  her  appearance  intervened  to  mar  the  effect 
of  her  pleasant  intentions  ;  she  could  be,  in  a  manner, 
irresistible  whenever  she  wished  to  be  so.  According  to 
universal  tradition — dating  from  her  early  childhood — she 
was  dowered  with  a  radiant  and  exquisite  attractiveness. 
Like  her  mother  she  became  exceedingly  tall,  and  her 
form  was  symmetrical  and  graceful.  Her  complexion  was 
pale  and  delicate  :  with  dark  brown  eyes,  she  inherited 
the  darkish  chestnut  hair  of  her  father  ;  but  her  features 
are  not  remarkable  for  regularity  or  fineness.  She  could 
hardly  be  termed  pretty,  and  her  portraits  do  not  indicate 
a  beauty  or  comeliness  sufficient  to  justify  the  con- 
temporary eulogies.  But  on  such  a  point,  the  opinion 
of  contemporaries  is  the  only  adequate  guide.  Much  of 
her  charm  probably  depended  on  her  air  and  manner  ; 
she  possessed  a  strong  and  remarkable  individuaUty,  with 
apparently  peculiar  histrionic  gifts.  She  did  not  belong 
to  the  order  of  cold,  statuesque  beauties  :  it  was  herself, 
or  what  was  supposed  to  be  herself,  rather  than  her  features 
that  exercised  the  attraction.  Beautiful  in  the  strict  sense 
or  not,  she  was  evidently,  judging  even  by  her  portraits,  a 
person  of  marked  distinction.  The  earlier  portraits  repre- 
sent a  personality  which,  if  somewhat  obscured  or  veiled, 
might  well  be  pleasant  and  fascinating  ;  and  if  in  the  later 
portraits  the  expression  is  reserved,  severe  and,  in  several 
ways,  dubious,  her  terrible  experiences  and  sorrows  must 
have  stamped  on  her  countenance  their  own  impress. 

Dowered  with  whatever  personal  attractiveness  Mary 


72 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


may  have  been,  her  new  surroundings  and  her  education 
and  training  were  well  fitted  to  develop  and  enhance  it. 
The  French  court  under  Henry  II.  presented  the  same 
scene  of  elaborate  splendour  and  gaiety  as  under  his 
predecessor  Francis  I.  Never  was  the  art  of  enjoyment 
cultivated  anywhere  with  greater  assiduity  :  the  enjoyment 
was  of  a  many-sided  character,  but  it  had  its  root  in 
extreme  sociality,  sociality  in  some  respects  of  a  very 
questionable  kind,  according  to  modern  European  notions 
of  propriety,  but  refined  by  a  peculiar  devotion  to  the 
humanistic  influences  of  the  Renaissance.  It  is  hardly 
possible  for  us  to  realise  its  exact  tone  or  to  strike  a 
proper  balance  between  its  excellences  and  its  defects. 
It  is  not  to  be  understood  if  strictly  judged  by  the 
standards  of  our  more  precisely  ordered,  but  coarsely  material 
and  stridently  utilitarian,  age.  It  belonged,  moreover,  to  a 
time  when  the  Church,  the  supposed  guardian  of  social 
morality,  had  completely  swamped  its  own  rules  by  the 
character  and  multiplicity  of  its  exceptions. 

The  confusion  in  regard  to  social  morality  prevailing  at 
the  French  court  was  a  sort  of  reductio  ad  absurdum  of  what 
had  come  to  be  the  practical  tenets  of  a  Church  founded  on 
the  professed  worship  of  virginity.  The  Church's  original 
counsels  of  perfection — which,  while  ranking  marriage  as  a 
sacrament,  confounded  virtue  and  goodness  with  mere  asceti- 
cism— were  now  quite  set  at  naught,  not  merely  by  virtual 
ecclesiastical  tolerance  or  permission,  but  even  by  high 
and  very  general  ecclesiastical  example.  Nor  did  the 
French  court  strikingly  differ  from  other  courts  in  its 
disregard  of  the  ancient  conventions.  At  this  time,  and 
both  earlier  and  later,  it  was  a  fashionable  custom  for 
kings  and  princes  in  every  court  of  Europe  to  choose 


Photo  by  A.  Girajidon,  Paris. 

HENRY  II.  OF  FRANXE. 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  73 


mistresses  whom  they  publicly  delighted  to  honour  ;  and 
in  this,  as  in  everything  else,  they  were  a  pattern  to  their 
courtiers.  It  can  hardly  be  affirmed,  therefore,  that  Mary 
— who  was  accompanied  to  France  by  the  bastard  children 
of  her  father — was,  in  this  respect,  specially  unfortunate  in 
her  new  surroundings.  Indeed,  the  court  of  Henry  II. 
was  much  more  observant  of  the  proprieties  than  that  of 
his  predecessor,  though  strangely  enough  the  main  originator 
of  a  change  for  the  better  was  the  King's  own  mistress, 
the  remarkable  Diana  of  Poitiers,  who  was  a  woman 
of  exceptional  resolution  as  well  as  tact  and  discretion, 
and  who — notwithstanding  the  peculiar  position  she  occupied 
— having  a  great  regard  for  the  respectabilities,  did  her 
utmost  to  make  the  King  and  court  conform  to  them, 
so  far  as  outward  seeming  was  concerned.-^ 

In  any  case,  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  import- 
ance attached,  at  the  court  of  France,  to  what  Mary,  at 
a  later  period,  referred  to  as  "joyusitie."  Amusement 
was  not  wooed  after  the  somewhat  rough  and  ready,  and 
often  quite  ineffectual,  fashion  of  the  present  time.  Then, 
as  now,  it  formed  the  main  vocation  of  the  leisured  classes  ; 
but  at  the  French  court  it  was  practised  with  elaborate 
art.  The  old  chivalric  games  and  contests  retained  their 
ancient  vogue.  Tournaments,  with  their  displays  of  feats 
of  arms,  attracted  multitudes  of  sightseers,  at  least  as 
completely  representative  of  rank  and  fashion  as  those  who 
now  throng  to  the  special  horse  races  of  the  year.  Also, 
archery,  tennis,  hawking,  and  the  chase  were  the  favourite 
daily  recreations,  assisting  to  supply  that  variety  which  is 

The  very  spice  of  life, 

That  gives  it  its  full  flavour." 

*  See  especially  De  la  Ferridre,  Lettres  de  Catherine  de  Medicis,  vol.  i. 
p.  xlviii. 


74  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Mary  was  thus  initiated  early  in  the  practice  of  outdoor 
amusements  and  sports,  was  instructed  in  the  management 
of  horses,  dogs,  falcons,  etc.,  and  was  led  to  acquire  a 
fondness  for  pet  animals  and  birds.^ 

But  a  prominent  peculiarity  of  the  court  was  the 
importance  attached  to  social  intercourse,  and  the  methods 
of  rendering  it  enjoyable.  In  the  society  of  the  court, 
in  the  time  of  Mary,  the  dance  counted  for  much.  Soon 
after  her  arrival  in  France  the  King  himself  took  pains 
to  procure  for  the  Dauphin,  Mary,  and  the  other  royal 
children  a  teacher  of  dancing,  who,  besides  being 
a  special  master  of  the  art,  was  virtuous  and  well  con- 
ditioned." - 

The  art  was  not  acquired  by  them  in  a  merely  amateurish 
fashion  ;  high  proficiency  was  sought  after  by  systematic 
and  long-continued  training  ;  and  the  display  of  individual 
skill  in  dancing  by  ladies  and  gentlemen  was  then  quite 
common.  Moreover,  various  elaborate  varieties  of  the 
dance — ballets,  masques,  etc. — had  lately  been  introduced 
at  the  court  of  France  by  Catherine  de  Medici.^ 

Mary  became  specially  skilled  both  as  performer  and, 
so  to  speak,  stage  manager,  in  the  more  elaborate  enter- 
tainments ;  and  it  was  her  indulgence  in  such  long  semi- 
histrionic  performances  that  called  forth  against  her  the 
denunciations  of  Knox,  who  regarded  her  proficiency  in 
them  as  a  certain  sign  of  impiety.  Although  Sir  James 
Melville  diplomatically  flattered  Elizabeth  by  declaring 
that  Mary     dancit  not  so  hich  and  disposedly  as  sche 

^  See  especially  de  Ruble,  pp.  68-70. 

»  Letter  quoted  in  Tytler's  History  of  Scotland,  vol.  ii.  (1861),  p.  382. 
*  For  an  account  of  the  dances  then  in  vogue  at  the  French  court,  see 
Belleval,  Les  Fils  de  Henry  II.  (1898),  pp.  316-24. 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE 


did,"  ^  we  must  suppose  that  in  the  art  of  dancing  Elizabeth, 
compared  with  Mary,  was  a  mere  tyro. 

Like  many  great  ladies  of  her  time,  Mary  was  also  an 
excellent  musician  ;  and  though  it  may  be  that,  as  Sir 
James  Melville  implies,  Elizabeth  excelled  her  as  a 
performer  on  the  virginals,  we  must  believe  that  Mary 
had  the  sweeter  and  more  musical  voice.  According  to 
Brantome  she  "  sang  excellently,  accompanying  herself  on 
the  lute,  which  she  touched  deftly  with  her  beautiful  white 
hand  and  her  finely  shaped  fingers "  ;  ^  and  Conaeus  also 
affirms  that  she  was  a  proficient  performer  on  the  zithern, 
the  harp,  and  the  virginals.^  Her  musical  as  well  as  histrionic 
tendencies  were,  moreover,  attested  by  her  command  of  all 
the  charming  modulations  and  graces  of  exquisite  French 
pronunciation.  Antoine  Fouquelin  dedicated  to  her,  as  his 
best  pupil,  his  Rhetoric  Fran^aise^  adding  in  her  praise 
certain  lines  translated  from  Ovid  : 

"  Quand  sa  bouche  c6leste  eust  ouvert  ton  soucy 
L'on  eut  dit  que  les  cieux  souloient  parler,  ainsi, 
Et  que  d'un  prince  estoit  digne  telle  excellence, 
Tant  avoit  de  douceur  ta  divine  eloquence." 

The  elocutionary  gifts  of  the  royal  children  were  carefully 
developed  by  dramatic  recitations  ;  and  masquerades — 
written  by  their  masters — were  frequently  given  by  them 
in  presence  of  the  court.^ 

Mary  also  more  than  dabbled  in  poetry.  At  the 
French  court,  as  at  that  of  Scotland  from  the  time  of 
James  I.,  poets  were  held  in  much  honour  ;  the  cultivation 
of  literature  was  the  fashion  of  the  day  amongst  the  most 
exalted  personages  ;  and  native  poetry,  formerly  the  work 


^  Memoirs ,  p.  125. 
2  Jebb,  ii.  15. 


*  GEuvres  Completes,  ed.  Buchon,  ii.  134. 
^  See  de  Ruble,  pp.  94-7. 


76 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


of  popular  minstrels,  gradually  developed,  under  the  more 
direct  patronage  of  the  court,  into  a  more  dignified  and 
elaborate  art.  The  art,  as  practised  by  the  court  poets, 
was  doubtless  modish  and  artificial  ;  but  if  spontaneity  was 
too  much  sacrificed  to  rhetorical  and  rhymal  ingenuity,  a 
facility  and  correctness  in  verse-writing  were  acquired, 
which  might  well  be  the  envy  of  modern  poetasters. 
Mary's  tutor  in  the  art  was  Ronsard,  who  from  his 
thirteenth  year  had  been  page  to  her  mother,  whom  he 
accompanied  to  Scotland  when  she  became  the  wife  of 
James  V. 

According  to  Castelnau,  Mary's  favourite  poets  were 
Ronsard,  Du  Bellay  and  Maisonfleur,  who  all  three,  it 
need  hardly  be  said,  made  her  charms  the  subject  of  graceful 
hyperbolical  eulogy.  As  for  Mary's  own  poetical  flights, 
they  were  at  least  aided  by  some  technical  accomplishment  ; 
and  though  her  temperament  was  not  altogether  poetic, 
she,  to  borrow  Melville's  phrase  in  regard  to  her  playing, 
wrote  verses  ''raisonable  for  a  queen."  The  excellence  of 
her  literary  training  is  also  revealed  in  her  letters,  which — 
as  is  indeed  generally  the  case  with  other  letters  of  the  royal 
and  noble  dames  of  the  period — are  characterised  by  a 
correctness,  ease,  and  elegance  of  style  indicative  of  a 
somewhat  high  standard  of  culture. 

While  dancing,  music,  and  the  drama  were  made  to 
conduce  so  much  to  the  pleasantness  of  social  life  at  the 
French  court,  special  enthusiasm  was  also  shown  for  the 
visibly  beautiful  and  the  external  "  embellishments  of  life." 
Great  elaboration  was  displayed  in  personal  adornment — at 
which  Mary  was  a  great  adept,  her  dresses  excelling  in  their 
tasteful  splendour  that  of  all  the  other  ladies  at  the  court — 
in  domestic  architecture,  in  the  decoration  of  rooms,  and 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  77 


in  bedecking  them  with  paintings,  beautiful  furniture, 
statues  and  various  miscellaneous  ornaments  ;  and  if  im- 
perfect sanitary  arrangements  detracted  greatly  from  the 
comfort  of  the  most  splendid  dwelhngs,  this  is  not  to  be 
imputed  to  any  lack  of  taste  or  civility,  but  to  the  backward- 
ness of  practical  science. 

All  this  goes  to  prove,  not,  as  is  often  taken  for  granted, 
that  the  society  at  the  French  court — gay,  joyous,  and 
smitten  also  by  a  peculiar  moral  laxity — was  essentially 
frivolous,  but  on  the  contrary  rather,  if  anything,  that 
frivolity  had  a  subordinate  place  in  its  amusements.  The 
worst  forms  of  frivoUty — those  associated  with  coarseness, 
ignorance,  and  mere  giddy  inanity — had  no  place  in  the 
polished  society  of  the  court  of  France  ;  devotion  to  art 
in  music,  painting,  and  poetry  is  certainly  not  frivolity  ; 
and  if  not  a  complete  cure  for  it,  is  at  least  a  check  on  it. 

Moreover,  there  was  at  the  French  court  a  sincere  respect 
for  learning  and  the  more  strictly  intellectual  forms  of 
culture.  Margaret,  sister  of  Henry  II. — a  lady  of  sufficient 
erudition  to  have  qualified  her  for  head  of  a  modern  young 
ladies*  college  in  one  of  the  universities — had  much  to  do 
with  the  direction  of  the  studies  of  the  young  Princesses. 
They  were  carefully  instructed  not  only  in  French  literature, 
but  more  particularly  in  geography  and  history  ;  and,  in 
addition  to  a  thorough  mastery  of  the  chief  modern 
languages — Spanish,  English,  and  Italian — they  acquired 
more  than  a  smattering  of  Greek  and  Latin. 

The  Latin  themes  of  Mary  are  in  nowise  remarkable 
specimens  of  the  art  of  Latin  composition,  and  the  senti- 
ments are  exactly  what  we  might  expect  from  an  exemplary 
young  princess,  trained  according  to  the  precepts  most  appro- 
priate to  her  station.      The  true  grandeur  and  excellence 


78 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


of  a  prince,  is,  my  dear  sister," — she  is  writing  to  the 
Princess  Elizabeth — not  in  splendour,  in  gold,  in  purple, 
in  jewels,  and  the  pomps  of  fortune,  but  in  prudence,  in 
wisdom  and  in  knowledge.  And  so  much  as  the  prince 
ought  to  be  different  from  his  people  in  his  habits  and 
manner  of  living,  so  ought  he  to  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  foolish  opinions  of  the  vulgar." 

The  Latin  oration  in  praise  of  learned  ladies  which,  in 
her  thirteenth  or  fourteenth  year,  she  declaimed  with  such 
success  before  the  French  court  in  the  hall  of  the  Louvre,^ 
owed  the  applause  with  which  it  was  greeted  chiefly,  in 
all  likelihood,  to  her  charming  personality  and  her  skilful 
elocution.  But  though  she  probably  never  became  so  ac- 
complished a  linguist  as  her  rival,  the  more  coldly 
intellectual  Elizabeth,  she  in  after  life  continued  her  Latin 
studies  ;  and  after  her  return  to  Scotland  prosecuted  them 
for  some  time  under  the  direction  of  George  Buchanan. - 

Nor  was  the  supreme  subject,  religion — or  the  some- 
thing then  called  by  that  name — at  all  neglected  :  on  the 
contrary,  her  uncle,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  did  what  he 
could  to  ensure  that  she  should  become  a  devout,  and,  if 
it  may  be  so  expressed,  a  thoroughly  prejudiced  Catholic. 
If  we  can  hardly  accept  the  rather  too  comprehensive  state- 
ment of  Father  Stevenson,^  that  her  "  moral  and  religious 
education  "  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  her  maternal  grand- 
mother, Antoinette  de  Bourbon,  there  can,  at  least,  hardly 
be  a  doubt  that  abundant  use  was  made  by  the  Cardinal 
of  the  child's  devout  female  relatives  in  order  suitably  to 
influence  her  religious  sentiments  ;   for  the  Guises  were 

^  Brantome,  CEuvres  Completes,  ed.  Buchon,  ii.  135. 
3  For.  Ser.,  156 1-2,  No.  985. 
'  Mary  Stuart,  p,  95, 


THK  CARDINAL  OF  LOKKAINE. 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  79 


anxious  to  render  her  the  ductile  instrument  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  their  own  particular  purposes,  which 
included  the  entire  subservience  of  Scotland — and  even,  it 
was  hoped,  England — to  France  and  Catholicism. 

As  regards  the  Cardinal's  own  conceptions  of  religion, 
or  as  regards  the  exact  character  of  the  dominion  of  religion 
at  the  French  court,  it  is  hardly  possible  to  arrive  at 
a  quite  clear  and  credible  conclusion.  Like  the  Scottish 
Beaton,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  was  primarily  an  ecclesi- 
astical politician  ;  and  his  type  of  character  is  not  one 
which,  with  our  modern  notions  of  what  is  fitting,  it  is  easy 
to  regard  with  almost  any  kind  of  tolerance.  While  quite 
as  zealous  an  ecclesiastic  as  Beaton,  he  was  more  un- 
blushingly  lax  as  a  moralist,  and  while  an  equally  subtle,  he 
was  a  still  more  unscrupulous,  diplomatist,  and  he  had 
apparently  a  much  larger  capacity  for  various  kinds  of 
meannesses. 

No  more  piquant  illustration  of  the  prevailing  topsy- 
turvydom in  the  moral  codes  of  the  time — as  well  in 
social  matters  as  in  civil  and  ecclesiastical  politics — could 
be  given  than  the  employment  by  the  Cardinal,  as  his 
chief  agent  in  consolidating  his  influence  over  the  King, 
of  the  King's  mistress,  Diana  of  Poitiers.  And  yet  Diana 
was  in  every  way  a  better  woman  than  the  Cardinal  was 
a  man.  The  ascendancy  of  this  remarkable  person  was 
utilised  by  her  with  a  tact,  prudence,  restraint,  and  even 
benevolence,  which  import  a  combination  of  mental  and 
moral  endowments,  rarely  to  be  met  with,  even  in  ladies 
occupying  quite  unequivocal  positions. 

A  peculiar  indication  of  Diana's  remarkable  qualities 
was  the  apparent  cordiality  and  confidence  subsisting  between 
her  and  the  King's  lawful  consort,  Catherine  de  Medici, 


8o  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


whom  she  in  many  ways  befriended.  It  thus  came  about 
that  to  Diana  was  intrusted  the  chief  superintendence  of 
the  household — both  domestic  and  educational — of  Mary 
Stuart  and  the  other  royal  children.  According  to  Guilliame 
Chrestian,  physician-in-ordinary  to  the  King,  she  exercised 
the  utmost  care  to  secure  for  the  young  children,  not 
only  vigorous,  healthy  and  well-complexioned  wet  nurses, 
but  wise  and  prudent  governesses  ;  and  she  likewise  caused 
them  to  be  instructed  by  good  and  learned  preceptors, 
as  well  in  virtue  and  wise  precepts,  as  in  the  love  and 
fear  of  God."^ 

There  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  the  influence  she 
exercised  over  Mary  was  a  wise  and  wholesome  one,  and 
not  the  evil  one,  which  some  writers  prefer  to  take  for 
granted  that  it  must  have  been.  Mary,  in  letters  to  her 
mother,  refers  in  very  warm  terms  to  Diana's  kindnesses  ; 
and,  desirous  to  manifest  her  special  gratitude  to  her,  she 
wished  that  a  marriage  might  be  arranged  between  the 
young  Earl  of  Arran  and  Diana's  daughter,  Mademoiselle 
de  Bouillon.^ 

Notwithstanding  the  peculiar  moral  vagaries  that  had 
the  open  sanction,  by  example  as  well  as  by  precept,  of 
the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  a  profound  respect  was  shown 
for  the  ecclesiastical  orders  and  the  customary  ordinances 
of  religion.  The  belief  in  a  special  supernaturalism  was  in 
no  way  weakened  by  the  prevailing  looseness  of  moral  obli- 
gations. Though  Huguenotism  had  gained  a  considerable 
footing  among  those  of  a  stricter  habit  of  life,  scepticism 
was  still-  very  much  at  a  discount.  Among  the  bulk  of 
the  upper  and  lower  classes,  the  Holy  Catholic  Church 

1  Guiffrey,  Lettres  inedites  de  Dia?tiie  de  Poy tiers,  p.  lo. 
'  Labanoff,  Lettres^  i.  42. 


From  the  draivi>! ^  I  :  ?         Clottct  171  the  Hibliothcque  Nationale,  Iii'  .s. 

Photo  by  A,  Gir:i2uio/i,  Paris, 


DIANA  OF  POITIERS, 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE 


8i 


was  deemed  as  essential  to  a  properly  constituted  civil 
society  as  the  king  and  the  nobles.  All  the  clergy  of 
France,"  wrote  Castelnau,  and  nearly  all  the  nobility  and 
the  people,  who  held  the  Roman  faith,  regarded  the  Cardinal 
of  Lorraine  and  the  Duke  of  Guise  as  called  of  God  for 
the  preservation  of  the  Catholic  religion,  established  in 
France  for  twelve  hundred  years  ;  and  it  seemed  to  them 
not  merely  impiety  to  change  or  alter  it  in  any  way,  but 
impossible  to  do  so  without  the  ruin  of  the  state."  ^ 

Towards  the  close  of  September,  1550,  Mary  was 
gratified  by  a  visit  from  her  mother.  The  visit  had  become 
possible  by  reason  of  the  success  of  the  Franco-Scottish 
forces  in  delivering  Scotland  from  the  peril  of  subjugation 
by  England,  and  of  the  conclusion,  in  April,  of  a  peace 
between  France  and  England,  in  which  Scotland  was 
included  ;  and  it  now  also  seemed  advisable  to  make  more 
definite  arrangements  for  rendering  French  influence  in 
Scotland  supreme. 

One  of  the  most  essential  steps  towards  this  consum- 
mation was  the  elevation  of  the  Queen-Dowager  to  the 
regency  ;  and  in  order  to  prepare  for  this  she  brought 
with  her  a  large  following  of  the  Scottish  nobility,  whom, 
Leslie  tells  us,  the  French  king  entertained  with  such 
kindness  that  ''he  allured  thair  hairttis  in  sic  sort,  that 
at  all  tyme  the  said  King  Henrie  was  thocht  to  be  the 
moist  humane  and  luffing  King  to  Scottis  men  of  ony  that 
had  bene  mony  yeris  preceding."  -  Leslie  also  mentions 
that  earldoms  were  to  be  conferred  on  various  noblemen, 
and  he  further  states  that  a  great  number  of  other  gifts  and 
confirmations  were  made  by  the  King  to  other  noblemen 
and  gentlemen  "  onder  his  seill  and  handwreit  oblishing 

^  Memoires,  ed.  Petitot,  p.  25.  *  Hisiorte  0/  Scotland,  p.  236. 

VOL,  I.  6 


82 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


him  in  verbo  regio  "  either  to  cause  the  young  Queen  to 
ratify  them  at  her  majority,  or  himself  ^'  to  give  them  as 
guid  within  the  realme  of  France." 

As  the  Venetian  ambassador  put  it,  "  the  King  bought 
them  completely,  so  that  in  France  there  is  neither  Scottish 
duke,  nor  lord,  nor  prelate,  nor  lady,  nor  dame,  but  who 
is  manifestly  bribed  by  the  most  Christian  King."  ^  Arran, 
to  whom  was  now  given  the  actual  possession  of  the 
Duchy  of  Chitelherault,  was  induced  to  grant  a  conditional 
assent  to  the  proposed  arrangements  ;  but,  probably  on 
account  of  some  dissension  and  discontent  amongst  the 
Scottish  nobility  in  France,  as  reported  by  Sir  John  Masone,^ 
it  was  not  immediately  carried  out. 

The  Queen-Dowager  remained  in  France  more  than 
a  year,  not  returning  to  Scotland  until  November,  1551. 
While  she  was  in  France,  ambassadors  arrived  from 
Edward  VI.  with  instructions  first  to  demand  the  Queen 
of  Scots  in  marriage,"  but,  in  the  event  of  this  being 
refused,  to  solicit  the  hand  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth  of 
France.' 

In  acceding  to  the  latter  request,  Henry  II.  was  no 
doubt  influenced  by  the  desire  of  securing  the  support  of 
England  against  the  Emperor  ;  but,  unless  as  a  temporary 
expedient  which  could  afterwards  be  dispensed  with,  the 
arrangement  could  not  have  had  the  support  of  the  Guises 
and  the  more  strict  Catholics.  Not  only  so  ;  we  must 
suppose  that  the  Guises  regarded  it  as,  to  a  certain  extent, 
interfering  with  the  political  and  ecclesiastical  possibilities 
associated  with  the  future  of  their  niece,  Mary  Stuart. 
But  secretly  displeased  with  the  new  alliance  though  the 

1  Venetian  State  Papers,  1534-54,  p.  361. 

^  For.  Ser.,  1547-53,  p.  791.  *  Ibid.,  p.  109. 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  83 


Queen-Dowager  might  be,  it  was  diplomatically  fitting 
that  she  should,  on  her  return  journey,  pass  through 
England  and  pay  a  ceremonial  visit  to  Edward  in 
London. 

According  to  Bishop  Leslie,  Edward  sought  to  per- 
suade the  Queen-Dowager  to  propose  to  the  King  of 
France  that  negotiations  should  be  resumed  for  his 
marriage  to  the  Queen  of  Scotland.  Somerset  was  then 
lying  in  the  Tower  under  sentence  of  execution  ;  and  if 
the  Queen-Dowager,  as  Leslie  states,  told  the  young 
King  that  "  it  was  the  rigorous  perswit  maid  be  fyre  and 
sword  be  the  Protector  "  ^  that  forced  the  nobiHty  to  send 
the  young  Queen  to  France,  this  part  of  her  answer  would, 
in  the  particular  circumstances,  have  a  peculiar  cogency. 
Conaeus  either  borrows  or  corroborates  Leslie's  story ;  ^ 
and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  Edward  referred  with  regret 
to  the  failure  of  the  Scottish  marriage  proposal  ;  but  if 
his  inexperience  led  him  again  to  seek  to  re-open  the 
matter,  his  counsellors  probably  convinced  him  of  the 
futility  of  his  hopes  ;  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  anything 
further  was  done. 

While  the  Queen-Dowager  was  still  in  France  a  curious 
plot  was  revealed  for  poisoning  her  daughter.  Its  designer, 
Robert  Stewart,  was  an  ally  of  the  murderers  of  Cardinal 
Beaton,  and  after  the  capture  of  St.  Andrews  Castle  had 
rowed  in  the  French  galleys  ;  but  nevertheless  he  had 
joined  the  Scottish  Guard  in  France.  Obtaining  leave 
of  absence,  he  went  to  England  and  sought  to  interest 
the  English  Council  in  his  scheme,  probably  in  hope  of 
a  substantial  reward. 

According  to  Bishop  LesHe,^  and  the  report  of  M.  de 

1  History,  p.  240.  »  Jebb,  li.  116.  ^  History,  p.  240. 


84 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Chemault  to  the  King  and  Constable  of  France/  the  plot 
was  revealed  to  the  French  Government  by  a  Scotsman, 
John  Henderson,  then  resident  in  England.  A  report  about 
the  occurrence  by  Sir  John  Masone,  English  ambassador 
at  Paris/  was  evidently  founded  on  incorrect  hearsay, 
and  the  English  Council  knew  much  more  about  the 
matter  than  he  did.  They  had  already  sent  Stewart  to 
the  Tower  ;  ^  and  but  for  the  communication  of  Henderson 
to  the  French  Government,  nothing  further  would  pro- 
bably have  been  heard  of  the  matter.  When  France 
demanded  his  delivery  it  was  at  once  granted.  He  was 
not,  as  Leslie  states,  apprehended  "  in  the  towne  of  Blaise, 
in  France,"  but  was  delivered  over  the  frontiers  at  Calais,* 
and  arrived  at  Angers  as  a  prisoner  on  June  5th. ^ 

According  to  Leslie,  Stewart  was  hanged  and  quartered, 
his  likeliest  fate.  Father  Stevenson  seeks  to  identify  him 
with  a  Robert  Stewart,  who,  after  a  career  of  political 
crime,  shot  the  old  Constable  Montmorency  in  the  back 
at  the  battle  St.  Denis,  November  loth,  1566,  and  was 
afterwards  executed  as  a  murderer  ;  ^  but  the  narrative  of 
this  Stewart's  career  by  Francisque-Michel,'  shows  that  he 
was  another  than  the  personage  who  intended  the  young 
Queen's  assassination. 

Another  unpleasant  discovery  for  the  Queen-Dowager 
was  that  Lady  Fleming,  having  been  honoured  by  the 
special  civilities  of  her  royal  host,  was  in  what  Lady 
Fleming  herself  regarded  as  the  distinguished  predicament 
of  being,  as  she  said,  "  enceinte  du  roi."    She  was  therefore, 

1  Teulet,  Relations,  i.  26070.  '  For.  Ser.,  1547-53,  p.  97- 

'  Journal  of  Edward  VI.  *  Teulet,  Relations,  i.  273. 

*  For.  Ser.,  1547-53,  p.  121.  ^  Mary  Stuart,  pp.  1 14-15. 

^  Les  Ecossais  en  France,  i.  532-6. 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  85 


in  April,  155 1,  hurriedly  sent  to  Scotland,  where  shortly 
afterwards — very  little  to  the  joy  of  the  ladies  at  the 
French  court  ^ — she  gave  birth  to  a  male  child,  who 
became  famous  as  the  "  Bastard  of  Angouleme." 

Whether  the  intrigue  was  contrived  by  the  Anti-Guise 
party  to  supplant  the  influence  of  Diana  of  Poitiers,  or 
whether,  as  is  most  likely,  the  persons  chiefly  responsible 
for  it  were  Lady  Fleming  and  the  King,  it  was  utilised 
by  the  Guises  for  the  purpose  of  isolating  Mary  more 
completely  from  Scottish  associations. 

Before  her  mother  left  France,  it  was  arranged  that  Lady 
Fleming's  place  as  the  child's  guardian  should  be  taken 
by  Fran^oise  d'Estamville,  Madame  de  Paroy,  a  person, 
to  borrow  the-  words  of  de  Ruble,  "  d'un  age  mur,  in- 
capable de  donner  de  I'ombrage  a  Catherine  et  a  Diane  de 
Poitiers."^ 

What  was  of  equal  consequence,  Madame  de  Paroy 
was  a  strict  Catholic,  and,  at  the  time  of  her  appointment, 
enjoyed  the  full  confidence  of  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine, 
who  wrote  to  his  sister  that  she  was  fulfilling  her  duties 
so  well  that  no  better  arrangement  could  be  conceived, 
while  she  might  rest  assured  que  Dieu  est  bien  servi  et 
a  la  vieille  fa^on."  ^  But  in  the  end  Madame  de  Paroy  failed 
to  be  so  successful  in  her  oflice  as  had  been  anticipated.  In 
her  earlier  years  the  child  was  disposed  to  be  submissive 
enough  to  her  as  her  governess  ;  but  Madame  de  Paroy 
was  not  a  person  to  whom  one  of  Mary's  gay,  lively,  and 
generous  temperament  could  become  strongly  attached, 
and  as  Mary  approached  womanhood  their  intercourse 
became  more  and  more  strained.    Finally  Mary,  who  had 

^  For.  Ser.,  1547-53,  p.  97.  ^  La  Premiere  Jeunesse,  p.  87. 

^  Labanofif.  i.  16, 


86  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


a  will  and  temper  of  her  own,  accused  Madame  de  Paroy 
of  seeking  to  bring  her  into  bad  grace  with  her  grand- 
mother and  the  Queen.  So  much,  apparently,  was  she 
disquieted  by  her  governess's  evil,  and,  according  to  her 
own  protestations,  quite  unjustifiable,  accounts  of  her,  that 
she  prayed  her  mother  to  supersede  her  by  Madame  de 
Brene,  who  was  a  friend  of  Diana  of  Poitiers/  Suggested 
or  not  by  Diana,  the  proposal  had  not  only  .the  approval  of 
Diana,  but  of  the  King  and  Queen  and  of  Mary's  grand- 
mother and  uncles.  Further  evidence  of  Diana's  influence 
was  manifested  in  the  two-fold  proposal  that  Diana's 
daughter,  Mademoiselle  de  Bouillon,  should  carry  her  train 
in  the  absence  of  Madame  de  Brene,  and  that  the  niece  of 
Madame  de  Brene — described  by  Mary  as  "  une  famme 
veuve  bien  sage  " — was  to  be  her  companion  in  her  sleeping- 
chamber.- 

Considerable  confusion  and  error  are  manifested  by 
various  biographers  of  Mary  in  regard  to  her  places  of 
residence  and  mode  of  life  previous  to  her  marriage  to  the 
Dauphin,  some  of  them  allowing  themselves  to  suppose  that 
her  days  were  passed  mainly  in  "  the  seclusion  of  a  nunnery  " 
— a  by  no  means  fit  preparation  for  the  onerous  worldly 
duties  she  would  afterwards  have  to  discharge.  With 
greater  prudence.  Father  Stevenson  contented  himself  with 
the  admirably  uncircumstantial,  but  wholly  delusive,  declara- 
tion that  "  the  arrangements  which  had  been  made  by  her 
mother"  [presumably  during  her  visit  to  France]  "for  her 
removal  to  a  healthier  moral  atmosphere  placed  her  beyond 
the  reach  of  influences  which  otherwise  might  have  proved 
dangerous,"  ^  his  allusion  being  apparently  to  the  superseding 
of  Lady  Fleming  by  Madame  de  Paroy. 

*  Labanoff,  i.  41.  *  Ibid.,  i,  43.         ^  Mary  Stuart,  p,  41. 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  87 


To  dispose  of  the  misrepresentations  both  of  Father 
Stevenson  and  the  maintainers  of  the  nunnery  theory, 
Dr.  Hay  Fleming  has  sought  to  utilise  the  dates  of  Mary's 
Latin  themes  in  order  to  show  "  that  during  that  period 
Mary  was  travelling  with  the  court  from  one  royal  residence 
to  another."  ^  Had  he  been  acquainted  with  the  very  com- 
plete table  of  removals  of  Mary  and  the  other  royal  children 
from  1550  to  1559  published  in  de  Ruble's  volume,"  he 
would  not  have  found  it  needful  to  pen  his  careful  but  imper- 
fect note  on  the  subject ;  ^  nor  need  he  have  troubled  him- 
self at  all  about  the  matter  had  he  realised  the  significance 
of  the  change  in  Mary's  position  when,  on  reaching  her 
twelfth  year,  she  took  rank  at  court,  and  was  assigned  a 
separate  establishment  of  her  own.  Previous  to  this  the 
royal  children  were  accustomed  to  change  their  residence 
from  one  royal  chateau  to  another  ;  but  their  "  removals  '* 
were  not  necessarily  consonant  with  those  of  the  court. 
So  much  for  Mary's  earlier  years. 

From  December  7th,  1553,  she  took  rank  at  court, 
and  arrangements  for  her  separate  establishment  were 
completed  by  January  ist,  1554,  when  she  celebrated  the 
occasion  by  entertaining  her  uncle,  the  Cardinal,  to  supper.^ 
This  new  arrangement.  Dr.  Fleming  justly  enough  remarks, 
"  did  not  detach  her  from  the  court  "  ;  what  he  fails  to 
recognise  is  that,  on  the  contrary,  it,  for  the  first  time, 
definitely  attached  her  to  the  court.  This  is,  however,  a 
minor  matter.  What  is  more  important  is  that,  in  this 
connection.  Dr.  Fleming  homologates  a  remarkable  mis- 
reading of  the  closing  paragraphs  of  the  Cardinal's  letter 

'  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  19. 

^  JLa  Premiere  Jeunesse  (1891) — pp.  253-7. 

3  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  p.  207.  Labanoff,  Lettres,  i.  18. 


as  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


of  February  25th,  1553.^  Here  are  the  Cardinal's  words  : 
"Je  n'oublie  pas  a  bicn  ramantevoir  d'estre  songneus  a 
sa  bouche,  mais,  a  dire  verite,  ylz  sont  si  mal  en  I'estat  qui 
sont,  que  j'ay  grand  envye  la  voir  mestresse  et  son  cas  a 
part."  And  here  is  the  translation  of  them  on  which 
Dr.  Hay  Fleming  has  permitted  himself  to  place  the  seal 
of  his  approval :  "  I  forgot  not  to  remind  her  to  keep 
a  seal  on  her  lips,  for  really  some  who  are  in  this  court  are 
so  bad  in  this  respect,  that  I  am  very  anxious  for  her  to  be 
separated  from  them,  by  the  forming  of  an  establishment 
of  her  own."  " 

Further,  Dr.  Fleming  supposes  that  both  Father  Stevenson 
and  Sir  John  Skelton,  who  quoted  the  earlier  part  of  the 
letter,  omitted  this  "  final  sentence "  on  account  of  its 
evil  import  :  ^  his  theory  being  that  an  important  reason 
for  the  formation  of  a  separate  establishment  for  her  was 
that,  by  being  no  longer  exposed  to  the  bad  example  of 
the  court,  she  might  be  enabled  to  keep — if  the  expression 
may  be  permitted — "a  more  decent  tongue  in  her  head." 
He  makes  no  attempt  to  explain,  in  accordance  with 
this  theory,  a  former  observation  in  the  same  letter  of 
the  Cardinal  :  I  must  not  fail  to  tell  you,  madame, 
that  so  much  does  the  King  enjoy  her  society,  that  he 
frequently  spends  an  hour  in  conversing  with  her,  and 
this  is  a  great  pleasure  to  him,  for  she  talks  as  well  and 
as  sensibly  as  if  she  were  a  woman  of  five-and-twenty." 

To  talk  thus  could  hardly  imply  the  indulgence  in 
what  the  Cardinal  also  deemed  improper  language  ;  and 
further,  if  we  consider  that,  by  the  new  arrangement, 
Mary  would  really  be  brought  more  directly  than  before 

*  Labanoff  Letters,  i.  16.  '  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  18. 

^  Ibid.y  p.  206. 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  89 


under  the  linguistic  influences  of  the  court,  Dr.  Fleming's 
supposition  becomes  doubly  untenable  :  indeed  Mary  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  indulging  in  anything  worse  than 
complaints  of  her  treatment  by  the  officials  of  the  royal 
household. 

At  the  instance  of  Henry  II.,  the  Parliament  of  Paris 
took  upon  it  to  pass  a  declaration  that,  in  accordance  with 
French  custom,  Mary's  majority  should  date  from  the 
beginning,  and  not  from  the  end,  of  the  year  of  her 
majority  ;  and  that  from  the  commencement  of  her  twelfth 
year  her  kingdom  should  be  governed  in  her  name  by 
the  advice  and  counsel  of  persons  chosen  by  the  French 
king,  who  was  now  her  guardian.  The  Regent,  now  Duke 
of  Chatelherault,  had  been  induced  to  promise  the  recog- 
nition of  the  regency  as  soon  as  the  young  Queen  attained 
to  her  so-called  majority.  But  he  had  consented  to  the 
arrangement  unwillingly  ;  his  inconstancy  was  notorious  ; 
and  the  Queen-Dowager  and  Henry  II.,  anxious  that  their 
great  coup  should  be  accomplished  as  soon  as  possible, 
sought  to  concuss  Chatelherault  into  antedating  his  resigna- 
tion by  a  year. 

The  attempt  was  a  scandalous  interference  with  Scottish 
independence  ;  but  every  precaution  was  taken  to  render 
it  successful,  and  the  discreet  activity  of  the  Queen- 
Dowager  triumphed  over  all  difficulties.  She  used  every 
means  to  augment  the  popularity  she  had  already  won 
by  the  success  of  her  policy  against  England.  She  did 
everything  she  could  to  settle  the  controversies  which 
had  been  nourished  amongst  the  nobility  during  the  time 
of  the  wars  ;  she  sought  to  keep  herself  as  prominently 
as  possible  before  the  public  view  ;  and,  accompanying 
the  Regent  in  his  progresses,  she  made  the  utmost  use, 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Leslie  tells  us,  of  her  opportunities  to  gain  the  secret 
consent  of  the  nobles,  both  temporal  and  spiritual,  to 
her  virtual  usurpation  of  the  regency.^ 

Chatelherault's  very  proper  resolve  to  retain  the  regency 
until  the  young  Queen  had  at  least  completed  her  twelfth 
year,  availed  him  nothing  :  it  was  a  foregone  conclusion 
that  the  convention  of  the  nobles  at  Stirling  should  agree, 
in  accordance  with  the  French  king's  communications, 
that  Mary  had  now  reached  her  majority ;  that  the 
appointment  of  a  Regent  now  lay  with  her  ;  and  that,  by 
the  advice  of  her  curators,  she  might  appoint  her  mother, 
or  any  other  person,  at  their  pleasure  ;  that  is  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  French  king.  At  first,  Chatelherault  held 
aloof  from  the  convention  ;  but  on  letters  being  sent 
him  by  Huntly  and  other  nobles,  his  resolution  failed, 
and  he  agreed  to  terms  for  his  resignation.  If  Sir  James 
Melville  ~  is  to  be  believed,  his  compliance  would  have 
been  less  easy  to  obtain  had  his  half-brother,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  St.  Andrews,  not  then  been  so  ill  that,  for 
the  time  being,  he  had  lost  the  power  of  speech  ;  but 
at  the  meeting  of  Parliament,  April  i2th,  1554,  the  Duke 
gave  in  his  resignation  ;  and  indeed  he  was  no  match 
for  an  opponent  possessing  such  resources  of  blandishment 
and  bribery  as  did  the  Queen-Dowager. 

By  obtaining  possession  of  the  regency,  the  Queen- 
Dowager  was  now  in  a  commanding  position  for  furthering 
what  she  deemed  the  highest  interests  of  her  child  and 
of  her  relations  of  Guise,  who  were  bent  on  the  sub- 
ordination of  Scotland  to  France.  Admitting  that  her 
task  had  been  lightened  by  the  pusillanimity  of  the 
Duke,  whom  his  half-brother,  when  his  speech  returned 
1  History,  p.  244.  Memoirs,  p.  20. 


From  a  drawing  in  the  British  Museum. 


MARY  OF  LORRAINE,  QUEEN  OF  JAMES  V.   AND  MOTHER  OF 
MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS. 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  91 


to  him,  characterised  as  "  hot  a  very  beast  for  geuen  ouer 
of  the  gouernment,"  ^  her  success  up  till  now  had  been 
sufficiently  remarkable.  "  A  croune,"  says  the  satiric 
Knox,  was  "  putt  upon  hir  heade,  als  seimlye  a  sight  (yf 
men  had  eis)  as  to  putt  a  sadill  upoun  the  back  of  ane 
unrewley  kow  "  ;  ^  but  hardly  any  one  but  a  very  ardent, 
clever,  artful,  and  tactful  woman  could  have  managed  to 
have  had  so  completely  her  own  way,  as  up  to  this  time 
she  had  had,  with  the  selfish  and  turbulent  Scottish 
nobles. 

Whether  her  policy — not  a  wise  or  fair  one  so  far 
as  Scotland  was  concerned — was  a  wise  one,  either  in  her 
own  interests  or  in  those  of  her  child,  is  another  matter ; 
but  in  any  case,  like  many  women,  she  was  more  successful 
in  winning  power  than  in  knowing  how  to  turn  her  power 
to  the  best  account  ;  and  she  now  manifested  the  character- 
istic weaknesses  of  her  sex  in  a  too  eager  partisanship, 
and  a  lack  of  right  calculation  as  to  possibilities. 

Whatever  truth  there  may  be  in  Knox's  views  as  to  the 
monstrosity  "  of  female  government,  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  events  in  Scotland  and  England  were  in  many  ways 
modified  by  the  almost  simultaneous  inauguration  of  a 
period  of  female  sovereignty  in  both  countries  :  in  England 
by  the  recognition  as  sovereign,  in  the  beginning  of 
April,  1553,  of  Mary  Tudor,  and  in  Scotland  by  the 
recognition  in  April,  1554,  of  Mary  of  Lorraine's  regency 
and  of  her  daughter  Mary  Stuart's  majority.  In  the 
case  of  Mary  of  Lorraine — who  was  of  course  also,  in 
many  important  respects,  the  mere  agent  of  France  and 
of  her  brothers  of  Guise — while  it  may  be  granted  that 
even  the  subtlest  of  male  political  intriguers  could  scarce 
•  Sir  James  Melville's  Memoirs,  p.  21.        '  Works^  i.  242. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


have  achieved  so  much  for  the  child,  Mary,  as  she  had 
already  done,  on  the  other  hand,  a  regent  of  the  male 
sex  could  hardly  have  consented  to  play  the  exact  part 
which  she,  on  behalf  of  her  relatives,  was  devoted  enough 
to  play ;  nor  is  it  likely  that  any  one  but  a  woman, 
knowing  Scotland  as  Mary  of  Lorraine  ought  to  have 
known  it,  would  have  indulged  in  such  an  optimistic  dream 
in  regard  to  Scotland's  subjection  to  France,  by  the  means 
she  used  to  effect  it. 

If  Scotland  was  to  be,  somehow,  deluded  into  allowing 
itself  to  become  the  mere  appanage  of  France,  it  was 
incumbent  on  the  Queen-Regent  to  exercise  even  greater 
caution  and  circumspection  in  the  future  than  she  had 
done  in  the  past,  and  not  to  awaken  any  premature 
suspicions  as  to  the  purpose  she  had  in  view.  She  could 
not  have  adopted  a  better  method  of  arousing  suspicion 
than  by  inaugurating  her  rule  by  such  an  arrangement 
of  the  principal  offices  as  would  enable  her  to  fill  some 
of  the  more  confidential  posts  by  Frenchmen.  Villemore 
received  the  great  office  of  Comptroller  ;  de  Binton  was 
named  Governor  of  the  Orkneys  ;  de  Rubay,  appointed 
nominally  Vice-Chancellor  under  Huntly,  virtually 
superseded  him  in  the  practical  duties  of  the  office,  the 
sole  charge  of  the  Great  Seal  being  given  to  the  nominally 
subordinate  official  ;  and  to  d'Oysell,  the  French  am- 
bassador, was  entrusted,  without  any  official  position,  the 
general  administration  of  Scottish  affairs.  In  addition  to 
this.  Frenchmen  were  more  and  more  promoted  to  im- 
portant positions,  both  temporal  and  spiritual. 

The  Scottish  nobles  had  hardly  reckoned  to  pay  so 
dearly  for  the  rewards  and  honours,  on  account  of  which 
they  had  consented  to  the  hocus-pocus  which  had  secured 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE 


for  the  Queen-Dowager  the  regency ;  and  we  may  well 
believe  that,  as  Leslie  states,  they  were  thus  made  to 
"  conceave  sume  jolesie  against  the  Queen's  government 
even  in  the  beginning."  ^  For  a  time,  however,  the  con- 
ciliatory character  of  her  domestic  policy  greatly  helped 
her  ;  and  at  first,  also,  she  strengthened  her  position  by 
showing  a  strong  desire  to  be  on  friendly  terms  with 
Mary  of  England.  But  the  general  considerateness  and 
prudence  of  her  rule  could  not  hide  that,  lurking  in  the 
background,  there  was  a  dangerous  French  purpose. 

Not  only  was  she  garrisoning  the  principal  strongholds 
with  French  soldiers,  but  in  1556  she  proposed  to  raise 
a  tax  for  the  maintenance  of  a  standing  army.  The  avowed 
aim  of  the  proposal  was  to  guard  Scotland  against  the 
possible  ambitious  purposes  of  England  that  might  follow 
the  marriage  of  Mary  of  England  to  Philip  of  Spain  ; 
but  the  nobles,  almost  to  a  man,  resented  her  suggestion, 
not  so  much  as  a  menace  to  their  authority  as  a  slight  to 
their  loyalty ;  and  though  she  at  once  desisted  from  pressing 
it,  it  helped  not  inconsiderably  to  the  gradual  accumulation 
of  suspicion  against  her. 

Mary  Tudor's  marriage  to  Philip  of  Spain,  July  25th, 
1554,  necessarily  changed  the  attitude  to  her  both  of  Mary 
Stuart's  relatives  and  of  the  King  of  France.  Should 
the  marriage  result  in  an  heir  to  the  English  crown,  not 
only  would  Mary  Stuart's  inheritance  of  that  crown  become 
highly  improbable,  but  her  dominion  in  Scotland  might 
be  seriously  endangered,  while  France,  besides  being  faced 
with  the  united  empire  of  England  and  Spain,  might 
also  be  compelled  to  loose  its  grasp  of  Scotland. 

Fate  was  not  destined,  in  this  matter,  to  be  kind  either 
'  History,  p.  257. 


94  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


to  Mary  Tudor  or  to  Spain  ;  but  the  great  vista  of 
Spanish  possibilities,  which  for  a  time  glimmered  before 
the  eyes  of  watchful  Europe,  must  have  been  viewed 
with  curious  and  anxious  thoughts  by  the  devoted  band  of 
intriguers  who  had  then  charge  of  the  fortunes  of  the 
young  Queen  of  Scots.  To  us  also  it  affords  a  glimpse 
of  one  of  those  remarkable  might-have-beens  which  show 
how  much  of  a  nation's  destiny  turned,  in  those  days  of 
supreme  sovereignty,  on  a  throw  of  fortune's  dice.  And 
even  although  the  marriage  failed  to  bring  any  permanent 
advantage  to  Spain,  it  had,  we  may  well  believe,  no  small 
influence — and  not  for  good — on  the  fortunes  of  Mary 
Stuart. 

The  claims  of  Lady  Margaret  Douglas,  or  her  son  Lord 
Darnley,  were  not  then  widely  recognised  :  and  the  chances 
are  that,  but  for  the  marriage,  Mary  Stuart,  and  not 
Elizabeth,  would  have  succeeded  to  Mary  Tudor's  throne. 
Personally  this  would  have  been  Mary  Tudor's  choice. 
She  was  prevented  from  interposing  against  Elizabeth,  solely 
by  the  representations  of  Philip,  by  whose  influence  also 
it  mainly  was,  that  the  Catholics  raised  no  objection  to 
Elizabeth's  succession.  In  doing  so  great  a  service  to  the 
Protestant  Elizabeth,  Philip  was  partly  influenced  by  the 
hope  of  obtaining  her  hand,  and  thus,  after  all,  securing 
possession  of  England  for  his  dynasty  ;  but,  in  any  case, 
it  was  to  him  of  the  highest  moment  that  Mary  Stuart,  then 
Dauphiness  of  France,  should  not  become  Queen  of 
England. 

Meanwhile  the  temporary  alliance  between  Spain  and 
England,  which  had  been  cemented  by  the  royal  marriage, 
led  to  a  curious  confusion  in  the  ecclesiastical  politics  of 
Europe.    While  Pope  Paul  IV.,  the  nominee  of  Henry  II., 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  95 


was  found  supporting  France  both  against  Spain,  the  great 
traditional  bulwark  of  the  Papal  power,  and  against  Mary 
Tudor,  who  with  such  conscientious  ruthlessness  had 
quelled  the  resistance  to  the  Papacy  in  England,  Mary 
of  Lorraine,  the  agent  in  Scotland  of  the  recognised 
champions  of  the  Papacy  in  France,  was  following  a  course 
still  more  inconsistent  with  her  ecclesiastical  preferences. 

She  had  found  it  expedient  to  encourage  in  England 
the  revolutionary  schemes  of  the  Protestants  against  Mary 
Tudor,  and — in  order  to  obtain  Protestant  support  against 
the  Hamiltons  and  their  party — she  was  also  driven  to  adopt 
at  first  so  mild  an  attitude  towards  heresy,  that  Protestant 
refugees  were  allowed  to  return  to  the  country.  She 
also  desired  to  involve  Scotland  in  the  hostilities  which  had 
broken  out  between  England  and  France  ;  but  here  her 
efforts  did  not  meet  with  their  customary  success,  and  the 
general  result  of  a  policy  which,  from  the  subtlety  of  its 
expediency,  had  become  incoherent  was  bound  in  the  long 
run  to  be  disastrous. 

But  the  fortunes  of  Mary  Stuart  in  France  now  demand 
our  attention.  The  involved  and  uncertain  character  of 
European  politics  made  her  relatives  of  Guise  more  anxious 
for  the  consummation  of  their  wishes  in  her  marriage  to  the 
Dauphin.  The  marriage  could  hardly  be  deemed  a  foregone 
conclusion  should  Henry  II.  die  before  it  took  place  ;  and 
even  now  they  had  to  withstand  the  perpetual  intrigues 
of  the  Constable  and  his  party  to  delay  or  prevent  it.  Yet 
Henry  never  seems  to  have  given  any  signs  of  a  desire 
to  resile  from  his  purpose  ;  for  we  can  hardly  regard 
seriously  a  reported  statement  of  the  French  ambassador, 
that  should  Philip  of  Spain  arrange  a  marriage  between  the 
Archduke  Ferdinand  and  the  Princess  Elizabeth  of  England, 


96 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Henry  would  give  Mary  Stuart  to  Lord  Courtenay  "  to 
prevent  the  House  of  Austria  establishing  itself  in  that 
kingdom."  ^ 

Mary  Stuart  was  not  at  the  French  King's  disposal  for 
any  such  match  ;  nor  had  he  ceased  either  on  personal 
or  pohtical  grounds  to  desire  her  marriage  to  the  Dauphin. 
The  friendship  between  the  two  children  had  from  the 
time  Mary  came  to  France  been  fostered  with  the  utmost 
care  by  Henry  :  and  he  viewed  it  with  a  sentimentalism 
verging  on  the  ludicrous,  considering  the  entirely  worldly 
nature  of  the  arrangement  and  the  physical  un worthiness  of 
his  sickly  son  to  become  the  mate  of  the  very  flower  of 
European  princesses.  When  the  two,  a  few  months  after 
Mary's  arrival  in  France,  danced  together  at  the  marriage  of 
the  Due  d'  Aumale  he  was  supremely  delighted  at  the  spectacle, 
and  still  more  by  the  congratulations  of  his  royal  relatives 
regarding  the  "beautiful  match."  Later,  the  good  under- 
standing between  the  two  children  gave  him  the  liveliest 
satisfaction  ;  and  there  were  amongst  him  and  his  friends 
pleasantly  humorous  asides  about  the  custom  of  the  two 
youthful  lovers  to  retire  by  themselves  into  a  corner  of 
the  apartments,  in  order  that  they  might  be  able  to  com- 
municate to  each  other  their  small  secrets."  ^  As  she  grew 
towards  womanhood  Mary  became  more  and  more  a 
favourite  of  the  King,  and  hardly  other  than  imperative 
political  necessities  could  have  caused  a  change  in  his  views 
as  to  her  marriage  to  his  son. 

At  last,  on  April  8th,  1556,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine 
informed  his  sister  of  the  King's  intention  that  her  daughter 
should  be  married  during  the  coming  winter  ;  but  unless 

^  Venetian  State  Papers,  vi.  No.  552. 

'  Baschet,  La  Diplomatie  Venitienne,  p.  486. 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE 


she  herself  paid  a  visit  to  France,  he  was  doubtful  whether 
the  King  would  carry  out  his  intentions  so  soon,  though  he 
comforted  her  by  an  enthusiastic  eulogy  on  the  gifts  and 
graces  of  her  daughter,  who,  he  assured  her,  ruled  the 
King  and  Queen."  ^ 

Instead  of  coming  herself,  the  Queen-Dowager  in  July 
sent  her  secretary — seemingly  Maitland — to  make  arrange- 
ments for  the  marriage  ;  but  the  King  was  then  preoccupied 
with  fears  about  the  health  of  his  wife,  whose  confinement 
was  immediately  expected.  After  her  delivery  he  started  on 
a  provincial  tour  ;  and  later  the  young  Queen  was  attacked 
by  a  "  persistent  fever  " — caused,  it  was  supposed,  by  the 
great  heat — from  which  she  did  not  begin  to  recover  until 
October,  while  about  this  time  the  Dauphin  also  fell  ill  of 
a  quartan  fever. ^ 

In  the  spring  of  1556-7  the  Estates  of  Scotland  sug- 
gested that  the  Queen-Dowager  should  either  herself  go  to 
France,  or  send  deputies  to  complete  the  arrangements  for 
the  marriage.  Finding  it  inconvenient  to  go,  she  wrote  to 
the  King  and  Constable  advising  that  they  should  com- 
municate with  the  Scots.^  But  the  war  with  Spain  now 
engrossed  Henry's  attention,  and,  although  negotiations 
continued,  no  definite  step  was  taken  by  him  until  after 
the  defeat  and  capture  of  the  Constable  at  St.  Quentin 
on  August  loth.  Not  only  by  the  defeat  was  a  heavy 
blow  struck  against  the  opponents  of  the  Guisian  influence, 
but  the  Constable's  disaster  was  in  striking  contrast  with 
the  magnificent  successes  of  the  Duke  of  Guise  in  Italy 
and  Picardy.  Thus,  while  the  defeat  brought  home 
to   Henry   the    necessity    of    having    Scotland    at  his 

^  Labanoff,  i.  35-6.  *  Papal  Negotiations ^  p.  423. 

'  Teulet,  Relations^  296. 
VOL.  I.  7 


98  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


service  against  England,  he  was  in  a  mood,  as  the 
Venetian  ambassador  wrote,  to  do  everything  he  could 
for  "  the  gratification  of  the  Duke  and  Cardinal  of  Guise, 
the  said  Queen's  uncles,  who  by  the  hastening  this 
marriage  chose  to  secure  themselves  against  any  other 
matrimonial  alliance  which  might  be  proposed  to  his 
most  Christian  Majesty  in  some  negotiations  for  peace,  the 
entire  establishment  of  their  greatness  having  to  depend  on 
this/' ' 

On  October  30th  Henry  therefore  addressed  a  letter 
to  the  Scottish  Estates,  inviting  them  to  send  deputies  to 
discuss  terms  for  the  marriage.^  In  answer  to  this  and 
other  communications,  Parliament,  on  December  14th,  chose 
nine  deputies,  representative  of  each  of  the  three  estates 
and  of  Protestant  as  well  as  Catholic  opinion.  Every 
precaution  was  also  taken  to  obtain  adequate  guarantees  for 
the  preservation  of  the  independence  of  the  country.  The 
young  Queen  was  to  bind  herself  to  preserve  the  ancient 
freedoms,  liberties,  and  privileges  of  Scotland  ;  so  long  as 
she  remained  out  of  Scotland  it  was  to  be  governed  by  a 
commission  of  regentrie  to  the  Queen-Dowager  ;  and  the 
French  King  and  Dauphin  were  to  bind  themselves  and 
their  successors,  in  case  of  Mary's  death  without  issue,  to 
support  the  succession  to  the  Scottish  throne  of  the  nearest 
heir  by  blood. 

The  Commission,  which  arrived  in  France  in  March, 
found  that  Henry  II.  was  quite  pleased  with  the  terms. 
The  pecuniary  details  were  arranged  also  without  a  hitch, 
^  Venetian  State  Papers,  vi.  No.  1079. 

2  Letter  in  the  Advocates'  Library  printed  in  Keith's  History,  i.  348-9. 
Dr.  Hay  Fleming  in  a  discussion  as  to  the  date  {Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  i.  210), 
in  which  he  favours  the  29th,  overlooks  the  actual  date  in  the  King's  letter, 
"  le  trentidme  jour  d'Octobre,"  which  must  be  regarded  as  decisive. 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  99 

and  it  was  further  decided  that  the  Dauphin  should,  after 
the  marriage,  bear  the  title  of  King  of  Scotland  ;  that  on  his 
accession  to  the  French  throne,  the  two  kingdoms  should 
be  united  under  one  crown  ;  that  in  the  case  of  the  death  of 
her  husband,  the  Queen  should  have  the  option  either  of 
remaining  in  France  or  returning  to  her  kingdom  ;  that, 
should  there  be  male  issue  of  the  marriage,  the  eldest 
surviving  son  should  inherit  both  crowns  ;  and  that  should 
there  be  only  female  issue — which  in  France  was  debarred 
from  the  succession — the  eldest  surviving  daughter  should 
inherit  the  throne  of  Scotland.-^ 

The  only  demand  of  Henry  with  which  the  Scottish 
Commissioners  found  it  impossible  to  comply,  was  that  the 
Scottish  crown  should  be  sent  to  France,  in  order  that  the 
Dauphin  should  be  crowned  by  it  King  of  Scotland  ;  but 
at  the  Commissioners'  request  the  Estates,  in  the  following 
November,  agreed  that  the  Dauphin  should  be  granted 
the  crown  matrimonial,  it  being  understood  that  the  grant 
was  merely  by  way  of  gratification  during  the  marriage, 
without  any  manner  of  prejudice  to  her  highness's  self,  the 
succession  of  her  body,  or  lawful  succession  of  her  blood 
whatsomever."  Letters  of  Naturalization  of  Scotsmen  having 
been  granted  by  Henry  in  June  and  confirmed  by  the 
Parliament  of  Paris  on  July  8th,  ^  the  Scottish  Estates  also, 
in  November,  reciprocated  the  civility  by  granting  Letters 
of  Naturalization  to  all  the  subjects  of  the  King  of  France. 

Thus  Scotland's  old  alliance  with  France  was  renewed 
under  omens  which  seemed  to  promise  even  happier  relations 
in  the  future  between  the  two  countries  than  those  of 
the  past.  Nevertheless,  the  immediate  political  horizon 
of  Scotland  was  not  quite  free  from  threatening  clouds. 
1  Acta  Pari.  Scot.,  ii.  504-19.  »  Teulet,  i.  312-17. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Not  to  mention  more,  the  manner  in  which  the  marriage 
might  affect  the  relations  with  England  must  have 
given  matter  for  puzzling  thought  to  the  more  se-ious  of 
the  Scottish  politicians. 

As  before,  Scotland  had  sought  alliance  with  France 
partly  as  a  protection  against  England  ;  but  the  dynastic 
question  raised  by  Mary  Stuart's  near  heirship  to  the  English 
throne  promised  new  complications,  the  issue  of  which  it 
was  very  difficult  to  forecast.  The  Guises  made,  of  course, 
no  concealment  of  their  hopes — by  no  means  displeasing 
to  the  Scots — that  their  niece  should  inherit  the  English 
throne.  But  all  this  was  bound  up  with  the  aggrandise- 
ment of  France  ;  and  to  the  Scottish  Commissioners  the 
marriage  would  have  assumed  a  quite  different  aspect,  had 
they  been  aware  of  the  real  character  of  Henry's  purpose. 

Before  the  signing  of  the  public  marriage-contract, 
Mary  had  already  signed  secretly  three  separate  deeds  by 
which,  so  far  as  she  was  able,  she  virtually  guaranteed  to 
Henry  II.  the  utmost  of  his  ambitious  desires.  By  the 
first,  in  the  event  of  her  death  without  issue,  Scotland  and 
all  rights  Mary  might  have  to  the  kingdom  of  England 
were  made  over  in  free  gift  to  the  crown  of  France  ;  by 
the  second,  Scotland  with  all  its  revenues  was  made  over  to 
the  King  of  France  and  his  successors,  until  France  should 
be  reimbursed  of  the  money  spent  in  Scotland's  defence  ; 
and  by  the  third,  while  asserting  her  right  to  dispose  of 
her  kingdom  as  she  thought  fit,  Mary  renounced,  by 
anticipation,  any  agreement,  interfering  with  these  engage- 
ments, to  which  the  Scottish  Estates  might  induce  her  to 
consent.^ 

These  secret  articles  implied  that  Henry  II.  and  the 
^  Labanoff,  i.  50-55. 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  loi 


Guises  were  engaged  in  concert  with  the  Queen-Dowager  in 
an  active  conspiracy  against  Scottish  independence.  Without 
the  certainty  beforehand  that  Scotland  could  be  concussed 
into  annexation  to  France,  the  bequest  of  Mary  would  be 
a  mere  empty  form.  Mainly  through  the  efforts  of  the 
Protestants,  the  Queen-Dowager  was  to  fail  in  the  task  that 
was  assigned  her  ;  but  even  had  she  not  failed,  it  is  by  no 
means  certain  that  Henry's  hopes  would  have  been  in  the 
end  fulfilled  ;  for  they  left  out  of  account  the  varied 
possibilities  of  Mary's  future,  in  case  of  the  death  of  the 
Dauphin  without  issue. 

A  good  deal  has  been  said  in  condemnation  of  the  part 
played  by  the  young  Queen  in  this  base  transaction.  Dr. 
Hay  Fleming  thinks  that  she  did  not  fully  realise  the 
import  of  the  deeds  ;  ^  and  in  a  sense  this  may  be  true. 
Their  actual  significance  was  indeed  too  plain  to  be  mis- 
understood except  by  the  veriest  dullard  ;  but  Mary,  we 
must  suppose,  dreamt  of  no  other  future  than  one  in  which 
her  fortunes  would  be  permanently  linked  with  those  of 
France.  In  her  youthful  inexperience  she  failed  to  take  into 
account  the  uncertainties  and  strange  surprises  of  life.  She 
could  not  foresee  that  having  a  son — though  not  by  a  King 
of  France — she  was  to  feel  constrained  to  will  her  crown, 
and  her  rights  to  the  English  throne,  away  from  him.  Nor 
was  it  revealed  to  her  that,  having  disowned  her  Protestant 
son,  she  was  to  choose  as  his  successor  no  other  than 
Philip  II.  of  Spain,  who  had  been  the  great  rival  of 
Henry  II.  and  still  remained  the  most  dangerous  foe  of 
France.  When  she  signed  the  deeds,  she,  like  her  mother 
and  her  uncles  of  Guise,  was  heart  and  soul  with  France 
and  Henry  II.  against  this  dangerous  rival. 

^  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  24. 


162  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


The  French  and  Spanish  dynasties  were  then  engaged 
in  what  appeared  to  be  a  mortal  struggle  for  supremacy  in 
Europe  ;  and  this  supremacy  seemed  to  depend  mainly  on 
which  of  the  two  obtained  possession  of  the  two  minor 
kingdoms  of  England  and  Scotland.  In  the  young  Queen's 
eyes,  as  in  those  of  her  mother,  Scotland  was  not  of  much 
account  as  compared  with  France  ;  and  besides,  it  was 
possibly  only  by  the  aid  of  France  she  could  hope  to  win 
the  crown  of  England,  which  Philip  II.  was  threatening 
to  snatch  from  her.  We  cannot  understand  her  situation 
or  standpoint,  if  we  fail  to  recognise  that  to  the  rulers  of 
those  days  kingdoms  were  mainly  pawns  in  a  great  game 
of  ambition. 

This  consideration  tainted  the  policy  of  Henry  VIII. 
and  Elizabeth  of  England,  as  it  did  that  of  Henry  of  France 
and  Philip  of  Spain  :  the  youthful  Mary  can  hardly  be 
blamed  if  she  was  no  better  than  her  neighbours  and 
seniors  ;  indeed  she  was  much  more  excusable  than  they, 
not  merely  on  account  of  her  youth,  but  because  the 
kingdom  of  her  forefathers  was  to  her  almost  an  alien 
land. 

The  marriage  was  preceded  on  Tuesday,  April  19th,  by 
the  ancient  ceremony  of  hand-fasting,  at  which  the  Cardinal 
of  Lorraine  officiated.  It  took  place  in  the  grand  hall 
of  the  new  Louvre,  the  fete  ending  with  a  ball  at  which 
the  King,  in  company  with  the  young  Queen  of  Scots,  led 
off  the  first  dance.  The  marriage  itself  followed  on  Sunday, 
April  24th,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  gorgeously 
decorated  for  the  occasion  a  rantique.  The  Bishop  of 
Paris  received  the  young  couple  at  the  porch  under  a  royal 
canopy  of  fleur  de  Us  and  addressed  to  them  a  discourse  ; 
but  the  nuptial  ceremony  was  performed  by  the  Cardinal 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  103 


Charles  de  Bourbon,  who,  we  are  told,  pronounced  the 
sacramental  words  that  united  them  in  marriage,  with 
a  reverence  and  dignity  "qu'il  est  impossible  de  le 
dire.'' 

For  the  French  court  and  for  Paris  the  occasion  was 
of  quite  exceptional  interest,  because  no  Dauphin  had  been 
married  at  home  for  more  than  two  hundred  years.  Then 
the  marriage  was  in  reality  the  celebration  of  a  great 
triumph  of  French  diplomacy,  and  seemed  to  inaugurate 
a  new  era  of  French  glory. 

The  grace  and  beauty  of  the  bride  were  also  not  only 
fully  in  harmony  with  the  splendid  and  brilliant  scene,  but 
seemed  to  add  to  it  its  last  touch  of  perfection.  "  She 
appeared,"  writes  Brantome,  "  a  hundred  times  more  beautiful 
than  a  goddess  of  heaven."  '*So  that  the  universal  voice 
of  the  court  and  the  great  city  was  that  a  hundred  and  a 
hundred  times  happy  must  be  the  Prince  who  went  to  join 
himself  in  marriage  with  this  Princess — that  if  the  Kingdom 
of  Scotland  was  anything  of  a  prize,  the  Queen  was  far  more 
precious  than  it,  for  even  if  she  had  had  neither  sceptre 
nor  crown,  her  person  alone  was  worth  a  kingdom."  ^ 

But  Brantome  is  discreetly  reticent  as  to  the  fitness  of 
the  Dauphin  to  be  the  mate  of  such  a  bride.  As,  in  presence 
of  the  brilliant  gathering  of  royalties  and  nobles,  she  stood 
before  the  altar  in  the  bright  freshness  of  her  dawning 
womanhood — tall,  stately,  and  surpassingly  fair  in  her  blue 
velvet  robes,  variegated  with  gems  and  white  embroideries, 
on  her  brow  a  golden  coronet  sparkling  with  precious 
stones,  and  round  her  throat  a  gorgeous  necklace  of 
glittering  jewels — she  must  have  contrasted  so  cruelly  with 
the  wasted  and  stunted  form  of  the  bright-clad  youth — 
1  CEuvres  completes,  ed.  Buchon,  ii.  136. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


with  the  puffed  face  and  unhealthy  eyes — who  divided  with 
her  the  chief  attention  of  the  notable  assembly,  as  to  give 
almost  a  touch  of  burlesque  and  profanity  to  the  solemu 
formalities  of  the  holy  ceremony. 

In  the  evening  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people  was  gratified 
by  a  grand  royal  procession  through  the  principal  streets  to 
the  Palais  de  Justice^  where  a  great  banquet  was  given  to  the 
nobility  and  royal  officials.  Through  the  throng  of  admiring 
citizens  the  Dauphin  and  Dauphiness  rode  together  in  a 
litter,  the  King  and  princes  on  splendid  chargers  adorned 
with  cloth  of  gold  flowered  with  silver,  and  the  ladies  on 
ambling  hackneys  accoutred  with  crimson  velvet  and  having 
trappings  of  gold.  The  windows  of  the  palace  were  left 
unscreened  so  that  the  people  might  at  least  feast  their 
eyes  on  the  banquet.  It  was  followed  by  a  ball  at  which 
the  royal  ladies  and  others,  including  the  Queen  of  Scots, 
took  part  in  elaborate  dances.  There  were  also  masques, 
mummeries,  and  other  pastimes,  including  a  grand  triumphal 
march  after  the  fashion  of  the  old  Roman  triumphs. 

Finally  by  an  ingenious  contrivance  six  galleons  gor- 
geously adorned  with  cloth  of  gold,  and  having  sails  of 
silver  cloth  artificially  extended,  came  sailing  along  the 
ball  room  with  the  movements  of  vessels  on  a  tossing  sea. 
In  each  of  them  sat  a  prince  clad  in  cloth  of  gold,  and 
masqued  ;  and  as  the  galleons  passed  before  a  marble  table, 
at  which  sat  the  principal  royal  ladies,  each  of  the  masqued 
princes  in  turn  took  up  one  of  them  to  occupy  a  vacant 
throne  beside  him.  The  ladies  selected  were  the  Queen  of 
France,  the  Dauphiness,  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  and  the 
Princesses  Elizabeth,  Margaret,  and  Claude  ;  and  as  they 
sailed  away  on  their  prosperous  voyage  amidst  the  gay  plaudits 
of  the  nobles,  the  rejoicings  of  the  memorable  day  came  to 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  105 


a  close.  For  several  days  the  festivities  were  however 
prolonged  by  a  splendid  series  of  fetes  and  tournaments.^ 

The  marriage  was  swiftly  followed  by  a  series  of  events 
which  brought  about  astounding  changes  in  the  European 
situation.  By  the  death  of  Mary  Tudor  on  November  17th, 
Mary  became  in  her  own  view  and  that  of  her  advisers 
de  jure  Queen  of  England.  By  order  of  Henry  II.  she 
was  therefore  proclaimed  in  Paris,  Queen  of  Scotland, 
England  and  Ireland,  and  she  and  the  Dauphin  assumed 
the  English  arms.  This  has  been  condemned  as  a  rash 
and  hasty  step  ;  but  it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that 
Mary,  being  able  with  impunity  to  protest  against 
Elizabeth's  accession,  should  refrain  from  doing  so,  unless 
for  very  special  reasons. 

Not  to  have  protested  would  have  even  betokened  a 
kind  of  pusillanimity,  although  the  action  of  Henry  II.  was 
also  specially  provoked  by  the  intrigues  of  Spain  ;  Philip  II., 
in  the  hope  of  securing  the  hand  of  Elizabeth,  having 
exerted  every  influence  to  secure  her  accession,  although, 
according  to  Catholic  opinion,  she  could  not  be  reckoned 
other  than  a  bastard.  Mary  Stuart's  proclamation  as 
Queen  of  England  was  mainly  a  move  in  the  political 
game  that  Henry  was  playing  against  Spain  ;  and  thus, 
notwithstanding  his  hostile  proclamation,  he  not  only  sent 
to  Elizabeth  his  congratulations  on  her  accession,  but 
made  proposals  to  her  for  a  secret  peace. 

It  was  not  by  Henry's  advances  that  Elizabeth  was  in- 
duced to  decline,  as  she  did,  the  hand  of  Philip.    It  was 

^  For  accounts  of  the  marriage  ceremony  and  rejoicings  see  Discours  du 
Grande  et  Magnifique  Triojnphe^  etc.  Rouen,  1558,  reprinted  by  the 
Roxburghe  Club,  1818  ;  Teulet's  Relations,  i.  302-11;  and  Venetian  State 
Papers,  1557-8,  No  1216. 


io6  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


a  foregone  conclusion  that  she  would  decline  it  ;  but, 
as  the  result  mainly  of  the  changed  situation  consequent 
on  Mary  Tudor's  death  and  of  Elizabeth's  independent 
and  uncertain  attitude  towards  Spain,  the  peace  of  Cateau- 
Cambresis  was  on  April  2nd,  1559,  signed  between  the 
three  countries  ;  and  thus,  instead  of  marrying  Elizabeth 
of  England,  PhiHp  saw  himself,  by  a  complete  volte-face^ 
affianced  to  the  Princess  Elizabeth  of  France. 

Mary  Stuart  could  hardly,  however,  resile  from  the 
position  she  had  taken  up  in  regard  to  the  English 
succession,  without  at  least  some  definite  recognition  of 
her  rights  as  next  heir  to  the  English  throne  after  Elizabeth. 
Such  an  arrangement  was,  we  now  know — Elizabeth  being 
constituted  as  she  was — utterly  hopeless  on  any  conditions  ; 
but  Mary's  knowledge  of  Elizabeth's  peculiarities  was 
not  then  what  it  was  to  be.  In  view  of  events  in  Scotland 
— then  in  the  throes  of  the  Reformation — she  therefore 
thought  fit  to  send  her,  on  April  21st,  a  friendly  letter 
expressing  her  personal  satisfaction  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  peace,  and  the  hope  that  the  alliance  between  her  and 
her  ''very  dear  and  loved  sister  and  cousin"  would  be 
perpetual  ;  and  on  May  25th,  in  reply  to  a  similar 
communication  from  Elizabeth,  she  affirmed  that  she 
desired  nothing  so  much  as  to  see  an  increase  in  their 
friendship,  which  she  assured  her  she  would  do  everything 
in  her  power  to  promote.^ 

The  marriage  of  Philip  II.  to  the  Princess  Elizabeth 
of  France,  June  22nd,  1559,  was  followed  by  a  grand 
tournament  in  honour  of  the  foreign  guests  who  had 
been  deputed  to  be  present  at  that  ceremony  and  also 
at  the  marriage  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy  to  Margaret  of 

^  Labanoff,  i.  62-5. 


From  Mr.  /.J.  Foster's  "  1  he  Ttite  Portraiture  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots," 
by  permission  oj  Mess:  s,  D.'ckinsons. 


MARY  QUEKN  OF  SCOTS  AS  QUEEN  OF  FRAN'CE. 
From  the  bronze  bust  in  the  Musee  du  Louvre,  Paris. 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  107 


France,  which  was  to  take  place  a  few  days  afterwards. 
A  master  in  feats  of  arms,  Henry  had  distinguished  himself 
in  encounters  with  the  Dukes  of  Savoy  and  Guise,  but 
had  had  to  give  way  before  his  young  captain  of  the 
Guards,  the  Count  of  Montgomery,  and  desired,  against 
the  strong  remonstrances  both  of  Catherine  de  Medici 
and  Diana  of  Poitiers,  to  have  his  revenge. 

At  the  first  shock  of  the  second  encounter  the  lances 
of  both  were  broken,  but  Montgomery's  had  carried  away 
the  King's  visor,  and  Montgomery  being  unable  with 
sufficient  quickness  to  lower  his  broken  lance,  the  shaft 
glanced  along  the  steel  breastplate  and  penetrated  deeply 
into  the  King's  left  temple.  An  attack  of  fever  followed 
which  brought  about  his  death  on  July  loth,  and  thus 
Mary  Stuart,  in  her  seventeenth  year,  became  Queen- 
Consort  of  France. 

With  her  elevation  to  this  brilliant  position  not  only, 
however,  had  the  fortunes  of  Mary  Stuart  reached  their 
climax  :  solicitudes  and  fears  immediately  began  to  mingle 
with  her  felicity  ;  and  in  France  her  happy  days  were 
already  well-nigh  over.  Infatuated  with  the  merely 
dazzling  aspects  of  their  great  scheme  for  the  advancement 
of  their  own  and  their  niece's  fortunes,  the  princes  of 
Guise  failed  sufficiently  to  consider  the  possibility  that  the 
union  between  her  and  the  heir  of  France  might  be  but 
brief  and  that  there  might  be  no  issue  by  it. 

Notwithstanding  the  unhealthy  debility  of  Francis 
from  his  infancy,  they  seem  to  have  flattered  themselves 
that  he  would  become,  as  he  reached  manhood,  moderately 
vigorous,  and  that  he  would  probably  survive  at  least 
sufficiently  long  to  have  children  by  their  niece.  In  cherish- 
ing such  a  hope,  they  were  probably  encouraged  by  the 


io8 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


physicians,  who  did  not  properly  understand  the  case.  Mr. 
Swinburne,  also  not  understanding  the  case,  has  scoffingly 
referred  to  the  poor  Dauphin  as  "the  eldest  and  feeblest 
of  the  brood,"  implying,  presumably,  that  the  iniquities 
of  the  parents  or  grandparents  had  fallen  on  the  children. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  neither  Henry  nor  Catherine 
had  suffered  anything  from  iniquities  of  the  kind  referred 
to,  and  the  theory  of  transmission  of  a  disease  to  grand- 
children is  not  now  accepted  by  physicians.  In  any  case 
the  weakness  of  their  eldest  child  was  not  due,  as  is 
usually  supposed,  to  a  syphilitic  affection  either  of  a 
secondary  or  tertiary  kind,  but  to  the  previous  barrenness 
of  Catherine,  the  disease  being  that  now  known  as  "  vege- 
tations adenoides  du  pharynz  nasal."  ^  But  her  husband 
being  in  such  a  condition  of  health,  Mary  had  practically 
no  chance  of  ever  becoming  a  mother,  and  the  marriage 
was  one  only  in  name. 

Meantime,  by  the  sudden  death  of  Henry  II.,  which 
the  Guises  may  have  sincerely  lamented,  and  which  un- 
doubtedly added  another  element  of  uncertainty  to  the 
future,  fortune  for  the  time  being  appeared  in  a  manner 
to  have  favoured  them,  for  they  now  became  the  virtual 
rulers  of  France.  Through  their  niece — by  whom  the 
weakly  boy  who  was  her  husband  was  entirely  fascinated, 
and  who  seems  to  have  managed  him  with  much  cleverness 
and  discretion — they  were  at  once  taken  into  the  King's 
special  confidence. 

Though  feverishly  ardent  in  the  pursuit  of  outdoor 
amusements,  Francis  was  taciturn,  obstinate,  and  morose, 
and  quite  incapable  not  merely  of  grappling  with  difficult 

*  See  Potiquet,  La  Maladie  et  la  Mart  de  Francois  II.  (1893),  illus- 
trated by  portraits  and  diagrams. 


Ajter  an  engraving  by  Cock. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 
As  Queen  of  France. 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  109 

questions  of  state  policy,  but  of  submitting  to  the  daily 
routine  of  official  observances  ;  and  thus  he  handed  over 
to  the  Guises  the  government  of  the  country.  The 
Constable  of  Montmorency,  against  whom  the  Guises  had 
formerly  intrigued  in  vain,  was  now  dismissed  from  office  ; 
and  to  the  deputation  of  the  parlementy  sent  to  congratulate 
him  on  his  accession,  Francis  intimated  that  he  had  assigned 
to  his  uncles  of  Guise  "  the  management  of  affairs " — 
to  the  Duke  of  Guise  the  charge  of  the  army,  and  to  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine  the  control  of  finance.  It  is  true 
that  he  continued  to  bear  to  his  mother  the  "  reverence 
and  respect  "  which,  according  to  the  Venetian  ambassador, 
"  were  extreme  at  all  times,"  ^  and  desired  that  she  should 
be  consulted  on  all  affairs  of  importance  ;  but  the  initiative 
and  the  authority  lay,  of  necessity,  with  the  brothers  of 
Guise.  This,  rather  than  the  vague  story  that  Mary  had 
sneered  at  Catherine  as  "a  merchant's  daughter,"  was,  we 
must  suppose,  the  origin  of  the  enmity  with  which  Catherine 
came  to  regard  the  lady  who  had  succeeded  her  as  Queen- 
Consort.  J 

At  first,  the  satisfaction  of  the  brothers  of  Guise 
with  their  position  must  have  been  complete,  for  not- 
withstanding the  internal  disquiet  of  the  country,  they 
had  every  opportunity  for  consolidating  their  power  and 
still  further  advancing  their  own  and  their  niece's  fortunes. 
Could  Heaven  only  vouchsafe  to  her  husband  some  length 
of  days,  or  bless  the  marriage  with  male  issue,  their 
most  ambitious  hopes  as  to  the  results  of  the  marriage, 
including  the  succession  of  their  niece  to  the  English 
throne,  seemed  almost  certain  sooner  or  later  to  be  fulfilled. 
Nor  apparently,  in  their  opinion,  was  there  immediate  cause 
^  Venetian  State  Papers,  1558-80,  No.  85. 


no 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


for  extreme  anxiety  either  as  to  the  King's  health  or  as 
to  the  possibility  of  issue.  On  the  contrary,  there  began 
to  be  an  apparent  likelihood  that  the  devout  petitions  of 
the  Cardinal  for  the  birth  of  an  heir  might  soon  be 
answered. 

Mary's  health  about  this  time  became  uncertain  and 
she  was  troubled  with  frequent  sicknesses,  which  the  matrons 
at  court  soon  came  to  regard  as  symptoms  of  her  interesting 
condition.  Deluded  by  these  opinions  and  by  their  own 
fervent  desires,  the  Guises  soon  began  to  whisper  the 
happy  secret  to  their  intimates,  until  it  became  the  general 
theme  of  court  gossip  and  was  even  communicated  to 
Philip  of  Spain.  In  her  inexperience  and  her  hysterical 
condition — due  partly  to  anxiety  as  to  the  troubled  fortunes 
of  her  mother  in  Scotland — Mary  also  allowed  herself  to 
defer  to  the  opinions  of  the  gossips,  and,  like  Mary  Tudor, 
buoyed  herself  up  for  a  time  with  utterly  groundless 
imaginations,  even  adopting  the  floating  tunic  then  usually 
worn  by  ladies  in  her  supposed  condition.  Towards  the 
end  of  September,  1560,  her  delusion  vanished,  and  she 
resumed  her  ordinary  robes  ;  but  the  Guises,  though  pro- 
foundly chagrined,  sought  to  hide  even  from  themselves 
their  own  dismal  foreboding  ;  a  king,  they  said,  of  sixteen 
years  and  a  queen  of  seventeen  had  still  a  future  before 
them.^ 

But  soon  their  better  judgment  must  have  told  the 
Guises  that,  except  by  the  very  special  favour  of  Heaven, 
the  chance  of  an  heir  to  the  French  throne  by  the  marriage  on 
which  they  had  ventured  all  their  hopes  was  all  but  gone, 
and  that  the  tenure  of  their  present  supremacy  would  cease 

*  These  particulars  were  first  made  known  by  de  Ruble  {La  Premiere 
Jeunesse,  pp.  187-8). 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE  iii 

as  soon  as  the  breath  departed  from  the  frail  body  of  their 
niece's  husband. 

In  a  few  months  le  petit  rot,  as  he  was  called  by  the 
people,  had  become  a  tall  man  ;  but  his  rapid  growth  was 
a  mere  symptom  of  disease.  It  meant  the  beginning  of 
the  end  ;  and  even  if  no  accidental  illness  befell  him,  the 
physicians,  sanguine  though  they  wished  to  be,  could  not 
predict  for  him  a  life  of  more,  at  the  utmost,  than  two  or 
three  years.  Notwithstanding  his  imprudent  ardour  for 
the  chase  and  the  game  of  tennis,  his  health  during  the 
summer  and  autumn  gave  no  cause  for  particular  anxiety  ; 
but  after  a  day  at  the  chase  on  November  i6th,  near 
Orleans,  he  appeared  to  have  caught  a  chill,  and  in  the 
evening  he  complained  of  pains  and  noises  in  the  head. 

The  country  was  then  in  a  condition  bordering  on  civil 
war.  In  dread  of  the  results  of  a  complicated  Huguenot 
intrigue  against  them,  the  Guises  had  filled  Orleans  with 
soldiers,  and  the  Prince  of  Conde,  who  had  been  enticed 
to  the  court,  was  thrown  into  prison.  In  such  a  crisis  the 
sudden  dangerous  illness  of  the  King  must  have  filled  the 
Guises  with  almost  overwhelming  anxiety,  and  for  a  time 
they  sought  to  conceal  it  from  the  court  and  from 
the  foreign  ambassadors. 

On  November  20th  Michiel  Surian,  the  Venetian 
ambassador,  reported  from  Orleans  that  the  King  was 
remaining  in  bed  only  to  allay  the  anxieties  of  his  mother, 
and  that  had  he  been  a  private  person  he  would  have  been 
going  about  as  usual  ;  on  the  22nd  he  intimated  that 
every  one  feels  that  His  Majesty's  illness  is  not  dangerous," 
and  that  there  was  no  doubt  but  that  in  two  or  three  days 
he  will  have  quite  recovered"  ;  but  on  December  ist  he 
had  other  news  to  tell :   "  Although,"   he  said,  they 


I  12 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


endeavour  to  conceal  the  malady  more  than  ever,  the  Queen- 
mother  cannot  suppress  the  signs  of  her  sorrow,  which  is 
increased  by  the  recollection  of  the  predictions  made  by 
many  astrologers,  who  all  prognosticate  his  very  short  life."  ^ 
The  malady,  the  seat  of  which  was  in  the  left  ear,  had 
begun  to  affect  the  brain,  causing  attacks  of  delirium  followed 
by  fainting  fits  ;  and  from  the  first  the  case  was  quite 
hopeless.  But  those  who  had  him  in  charge  carried  reserve 
and  secrecy  as  to  his  condition  to  the  utmost  limits  of 
possibility. 

On  December  ist,  the  gates  of  the  court  were  closed, 
no  one  entering  the  King's  chamber  except  the  two 
Queens  and  the  three  Guises  ;  and  the  antechamber, 
previously  crowded,  remained  empty.  Not  even  were  any 
servants  permitted  to  attend  on  him,  his  deathbed  being 
watched  only  by  his  wife,  his  mother,  and  the  despairing 
Guises.  Never  perhaps  was  there  a  royal  deathbed  scene 
so  wretchedly  and  grotesquely  miserable.  The  life  that  was 
now  ebbing  away  was  that  of  one  who,  with  all  the  outward 
favours  heaped  on  him  by  fate,  was  the  mere  creature  of 
misfortune.  He  was  quite  unfit  for  the  great  position  he 
had  been  called  to  fill,  and  his  life  was  of  no  intrinsic  value 
to  France,  to  the  world,  or  to  his  relatives.  It  is  even  by  no 
means  certain  that  his  mother,  in  the  position  of  political 
nullity  she  now  occupied,  was  anxious  that  her  son  should  be 
longer  spared  to  her  ;  and  the  other  watchers,  desiring  with 
all  their  heart  and  soul  that  he  might  survive,  were  in 
reality  concerned  only  about  how  his  death  would  affect 
their  own  fortunes.  The  secret  enmity  cherished  by 
Catherine  against  her  daughter-in-law  now  also,  it  is  said, 
manifested  itself  in  bitter  disputes  in  presence  of  the  dying 
>  Venetia7i  State  Papers,  1558-80,  Nos.  207,  209,  211. 


THE  FAVOURITE  OF  FRANCE 


King,  the  Guises  being  too  much  concerned  about  the 
future  to  interfere  effectively  against  Catherine. 

Maddened  by  the  near  prospect  of  his  removal  from 
power,  the  Duke  of  Guise  overwhelmed  the  physicians  with 
invectives  and  reproaches  against  their  science,  which  could 
not  do  more  for  a  king  in  the  flower  of  his  age  than  for  an 
old  miserable  mendicant  ;  and  with  oaths  and  blasphemies 
he  even  accused  them  of  poisoning  the  wretched  sufferer, 
and  threatened  that,  in  the  event  of  his  death,  they  should 
be  hanged.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine 
placed  his  faith  chiefly  in  the  customary  ecclesiastical 
machinery — prayers,  invocations  of  the  saints,  processions, 
masses,  and  expiatory  ceremonies.  ^ 

"  The  whole  court,"  wrote  the  Venetian  ambassador,  ^*  is 
now  constantly  engaged  at  prayers,  and  processions  are 
being  made  in  all  the  churches  of  the  city,  which  are 
attended  very  piously  by  the  brothers  and  the  sister  of  his 
most  Christian  Majesty,  by  the  King  of  Navarre  and  many 
other  personages."  ^  In  presence  of  crowded  audiences  of 
ecclesiastics  the  preachers  asked  from  Heaven  the  favour 
that  the  life  of  the  sickly  King  might  be  spared,  until  the 
heresy  now  threatening  them  should  be  extirpated  ;  and, 
infected  with  the  ecclesiastical  ardour  of  the  Cardinal  of 
Lorraine,  the  King,  in  his  half-conscious  moments,  is  said  to 
have  murmured  menaces  against  the  Calvinists. 

But,  apart  from  miraculous  intervention,  his  death  was 
merely  a  question  of  a  few  days.  On  December  2nd,  he 
was  somewhat  relieved  by  copious  evacuations  ;  but  the 
revived  spirits  of  the  miserable  company  at  his  deathbed 
were  almost  immediately  crushed  by  an  aggravation  of  his 

^  See  especially  de  Ruble,  pp.  202-6. 

^  Venetian  State  Papers,  1558-80,  No  213. 

VOL.  I.  8 


114  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 

illness  during  the  night.  It  now  became  manifest  to  every 
one  that  his  case  was  beyond  hope  ;  and  on  the  evening 
of  December  5th,  1560,  the  sufferer — whose  sudden  illness 
had  interrupted  so  inopportunely  the  dire  projects  of  the 
CathoHcs  against  the  enemies  of  their  faith,  and  whose  life 
was  also  so  dear  to  Mary  Stuart  and  the  Guises,  for  their 
own  sake  as  well  as  that  of  Catholicism — ceased  to  be  an 
object  of  almost  any  further  thought  either  to  the  world  or 
to  his  relatives. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE   WIDOWED  QUEEN 

TO  Mary  Stuart  the  death  of  her  husband  was,  by  the 
circumstances  in  which  it  placed  her,  an  almost 
overwhelming  stroke  of  ill-fortune.  In  her  verses  on  her 
bereavement  she  refers  in  very  proper  terms  to  the  personal 
character  of  her  loss  : 

"Si  en  quelque  s6jour, 
Soit  en  bois  et  en  pr6e, 
Soit  sur  I'aube  du  jour, 
Ou  soit  sur  la  vespr6e, 
Sans  cesse  mon  coeur  sent 
Le  regret  d'un  absent." 

But  though  her  feelings  towards  the  poor  sickly 
Francis  appear  always  to  have  been  kindly,  it  was  not,  in 
such  a  case,  to  be  expected  that  regret  for  the  dead  should 
overpower  all  other  considerations.  The  loss  of  her 
husband  had  been  preceded,  on  June  loth,  by  the  death 
of  her  mother,  which  she  seems  to  have  felt  far  more 
acutely  :  she  was  rumoured  to  have  "  loved  her  incredibly 
and  far  more  than  daughters  usually  love  their  mothers."  ^ 
Then  succeeded,  on  July  6th,  the  treaty  of  Edinburgh, 
which  provided  for  the  removal  of  French  troops  from 
Scotland.  Scotland  was  therefore  now  in  the  hands  of 
the    Protestants,    and    under    the    special    protection  of 

^  Venetian  Slate  Papers^  1558-80,  No  175. 
IIS 


ii6  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Elizabeth,  so  that  before  Mary  had  ceased  to  be  Queen- 
Consort  of  France,  it  had  become  doubtful  whether  over 
Scotland  she  would  ever  possess  any  real  sovereignty. 

Nor  could  Mary  immediately  obtain  much  sympathy  in 
her  misfortunes  from  those  who  had  lately  sat  in  company 
with  her  around  the  deathbed  of  the  dying  King. 
Catherine  de  Medici,  according  to  Sir  James  Melville^ — 
who  was  sent  to  carry  condolences  to  France,  and  who, 
on  account  of  his  previous  service  with  the  Constable, 
had  a  thorough  knowledge  of  French  political  parties — 
was  even  "  blyeth  of  the  death  of  K.  Francis  hir  sone, 
because  sche  had  na  gyding  of  him,  but  only  the  Due  of 
Guise  and  Cardinall  his  brother "  ;  and  Mary's  uncles 
of  Guise  were  too  much  occupied  in  saving  all  that  they 
could  from  the  wreck  of  their  own  fortunes,  to  give 
much  immediate  consideration  to  anything  else.  Every 
one,"  wrote  Michiel  Surian  on  December  8th,  ''will 
forget  the  death  of  the  late  King,  except  the  young  Queen, 
his  widow,  who,  being  no  less  noble-minded  than  beautiflil 
and  graceful  in  appearance,  the  thought  of  widowhood, 
at  so  early  an  age,  and  of  the  loss  of  a  consort  who  was 
so  great  a  King,  and  who  so  dearly  loved  her,  and  also 
that  she  is  dispossessed  of  the  crown  of  France  with  little 
hope  of  recovering  that  of  Scotland,  which  is  her  sole 
patrimony  and  dower,  so  afflict  her  that  she  will  not 
receive  any  consolation,  but  brooding  over  her  disaster 
with  constant  tears,  and  passionate  and  doleful  lamentations, 
she  universally  inspires  great  pity."  ^ 

This  is,  probably,  a  pretty  accurate  account  of  Mary's 
miserable  condition.  She  herself  wrote  to  Philip  of  Spain 
that,  without  the  aid  of  Heaven,  her  misfortunes  would 

^  Memoirs,  p.  86.       ^  Venetiafi  State  Papers,  1558-80,  No.  215. 


I 


J-roDi  a  drawing  after  Fratifois  Clonet  in  the  Bibliotheque  N ationale,  Paris. 

Photo  by  A.  Girandon,  Paris. 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS  IX  I560, 
As  X  widow,  wearing  her  "  deuil  blanc." 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN 


117 


be  unsupportable.^  Trained,  though  she  had  been,  to 
master  her  feelings,  and  to  subordinate  the  present  to 
the  future,  and  the  realities  of  life  to  its  outward  pomp 
and  glitter,  her  nature  was  too  strong  and  passionate  not 
to  assert  itself  in  great  extremities.  When,  therefore, 
she  entered  upon  her  forty  days'  seclusion  as  a  widow, 
her  mood  must  have  been  quite  in  keeping  with  the 
ceremonial  gloom  of  her  position. 

There  is  really  no  ground  for  the  prejudiced  statement 
of  Froude  that  Mary,  who  had  watched  dutifully  by  the 
sick  bed  of  her  husband  was  speculating,  before  the  body 
was  cold,  on  her  next  choice."  ^  She  had  been  trained  to 
look  for  political  guidance  mainly  to  others  ;  and  in  her 
new  and  dark  situation,  she  would  be  disposed  to  trust 
mainly  to  the  speculations  of  her  uncles,  in  whose  wisdom 
and  goodwill  she  had  entire  confidence,  but  who  were  too 
absorbingly  occupied  in  despairing  efforts  to  preserve  the 
King  in  life,  to  give  much  thought  to  anything  else.  But 
of  course  there  was  bound  to  be  speculation  by  outsiders, 
even  some  days  before  the  King's  death.  To  no  one  was 
the  question  as  to  who  should  be  Mary's  next  husband  a 
matter  of  intenser  interest  than  to  Elizabeth  ;  and  naturally 
Throckmorton,  the  English  ambassador,  was  very  curious 
to  know  all  that  was  to  be  known  ;  but  the  statement  in 
his  letter  to  Cecil  of  December  6th — quoted  by  Froude — 
that  so  far  as  he  could  learn,"  she  "  more  esteemed  the 
continuance  of  her  honours  and  to  marry  one  that  might 
uphold  her  to  be  great,  than  she  passed  to  serve  and  please 
her  fancy,"  cannot  be  founded,  as  Dr.  Hay  Fleming, 
supporting  Froude's  rash  conclusion,  seems  to  suppose,^  on 

^  Labanoff,  i.  91.  '  History,  cab.  ed.,  vi.  443. 

^  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  227. 


ii8 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


any  definite  statement,  made  during  her  husband's  illness  or 
immediately  after  his  death.  Such  a  premature  utterance 
of  her  intentions  is  really  inconceivable,  even  if  it  were  not 
the  undoubted  fact  that  for  several  days  after  the  death 
she  declined,  seemingly  from  utter  prostration,  to  see  any  one. 

Ultimately  she  was  persuaded  to  receive  the  young  King, 
the  King  of  Navarre,  and  her  uncles  of  Guise  ;  and  some 
time  afterwards  she  granted  interviews  to  those  who  were 
her  special  friends,  and  received  in  audience  the  foreign 
ambassadors  ^  ;  but  the  probability  rather  is  that  offers  of 
marriage  had  begun  to  be  pressed  upon  her,  before  she  had 
done  much  speculation  of  her  own. 

It  was  soon  manifest  that  Mary  would  have  no  lack  of 
suitors.  Among  the  earliest  to  let  their  aspirations  be 
known  were  Frederick  II.  of  Denmark,  and  the  ill-fated 
Eric  XIV.  of  Sweden,  while  one  of  the  two  sons  of  the 
Emperor  Ferdinand  was  then,  as  later,  thought  to  stand  a 
very  good  chance.  The  young  Earl  of  Arran,  who  seems 
to  have  been  in  love  with  Mary  from  boyhood,  and  had 
just  been  rejected  by  Elizabeth,  was  also,  in  a  few  weeks, 
eagerly  pressing  his  claims,  through  the  mediation  of  the 
King  of  Navarre  and  the  Constable  ;  and  Lady  Lennox 
had  already  begun  to  be  of  good  hope  "  as  to  the  chances 
of  her  son.  Lord  Darnley.  Mary  herself  would  perhaps 
have  been  quite  content  to  have  waited  for  the  young  King 
of  France,  Charles  IX.  ;  but  to  the  attainment  of  this 
supremely  desirable  consummation  was  the  insuperable  ob- 
stacle of  Catherine  de  Medici.  Failing  the  French  match, 
that  which  most  fascinated  the  imagination  of  Mary  was  the 
Spanish  one,  although  by  reason  of  the  peculiar  personality 

1  See  especially  de  Ruble  (p.  208),  who  quotes  letter  of  Surian,  January 
9th,  1 56 1,  not  calendared  in  Venetian  State  Papers. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  119 


of  Don  Carlos,  the  marriage,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
personal  desirability,  would  have  been  an  even  more 
miserable  alliance  than  had  been  that  with  the  poor  dead 
Francis  II. 

At  first  there  seemed  every  likelihood  that  the  marriage 
to  Don  Carlos  would  be  Mary's  destiny.  To  Philip  II.  the 
fate  of  the  young  widow,  lately  the  hope  of  France,  was 
bound  to  be  a  subject  of  keen  political  interest.  Though 
he  was  now  married  to  Mary's  favourite  friend,  Elizabeth 
of  France,  we  must  believe  that  his  interest  in  Mary's  fate 
was  more  political  than  personal.  Her  husband's  death 
was  undoubtedly  a  remarkable  stroke  of  good  fortune  for 
Spain.  It  had  rendered;  abortive  the  ambitious  designs  of 
France  as  to  Scotland  and  England  :  and  Philip  had  now  a 
chance  of  utilising  the  young  Queen  of  Scots  for  similar 
designs  of  his  own.  Very  shortly,  therefore,  after  the  death 
of  Francis  II.  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  and  he  had  begun  to 
bargain  about  the  Cardinal's  niece  ;  and  for  a  time  it  seemed 
that  the  Cardinal's  efforts  on  his  niece's  behalf  would  be 
sufficient  to  remove  all  obstacles  in  the  way  of  procuring  for 
her  a  second  marriage,  both  as  grand  and  as  deplorable  as 
her  previous  one. 

The  main  interests  which  Philip  and  the  Cardinal  had 
in  common,  were  the  interests  of  Catholicism,  which,  so  far 
at  least  as  they  were  represented  by  the  Cardinal,  now 
appeared  in  France  to  be  in  supreme  danger.  Had  it 
been  possible,  the  Cardinal  would  have  preferred  the  French 
marriage  :  in  furthering  the  Spanish  match  he  was,  in  a 
sense,  acting  directly  against  the  interests  of  France  ;  but 
he  had  to  consider  primarily  its  spiritual  or  ecclesiastical 
interests,  and  this  for  the  very  good  reason  that  they  were 
bound  up  with  his  own  future, 


I  20 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


As  for  Mary,  the  thought  of  separating  herself  from 
France  and  the  scenes  of  her  former  social  triumphs  was 
very  far  from  a  pleasant  one  ;  but  so  soon  as  she  recovered 
from  the  shock  of  her  calamity,  the  ambitious  hopes  which 
had  been  nourished  in  her  were  certain  to  revive  ;  and  in 
having  regard  mainly  to  the  political  aspects  of  her  next 
marriage,  she  was  acting  more  in  accordance  with  royal 
traditions  than  the  skittish  and  unmanageable  Elizabeth. 
"  It  does  not  appear,"  says  Dr.  Hay  Fleming,  that  Mary's 
thoughts  of  another  marriage  lowered  her  in  Throckmorton's 
eyes."  ^  This  is  doubtless  true,  for  instead  of  lowering 
her,  they  raised  her  in  his  eyes.  His  high  opinion  of 
Mary's  "behaviour"  and  of  her  wisdomi  and  kingly 
modesty,"  rested  on  the  fact  that  she  "  thinketh  herself 
not  too  wise,  but  is  contented  to  be  ruled  by  good  counsel 
and  wise  men."  ^ 

Before  the  expiry  of  Mary's  period  of  seclusion, 
Philip  II.  had  instructed  Perrenot  de  Channtonay,  his 
ambassador  in  France,  to  appeal  to  the  interests  of  the 
House  of  Guise  as  a  reason  for  advising  their  niece  to 
accept  the  hand  of  Don  Carlos  ;  but  it  is  unlikely  that  the 
subject  was  even  remotely  alluded  to  in  the  interview 
between  Mary  and  the  Spanish  ambassador,  when  he  went 
to  offer  her  his  condolences.  We  can  hardly  suppose  that 
even  the  jealously  watchful  Throckmorton  imagined 
that  marriage-proposals  were  the  direct  subject  of  their 
colloquy.  Mary  had  been  on  specially  friendly  terms  with 
Philip  since  his  marriage  to  her  old  companion,  Elizabeth 
of  France  ;  and  topics  for  a  genial  and  friendly  conversation 
with  his  ambassador  would  not  be  wanting.  Mary  may 
have  wished  to  show  herself  as  complaisant  as  possible  ; 
*  Ma?y  Quee7i  of  Scots,  p.  34.  ^  For.  Ser.,  iii.  No.  833. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  121 

but  it  is  unlikely  that  negotiations  took  a  definite  shape 
before  the  arrival,  towards  the  end  of  January,  of  Don 
Juan  Manrique,  who,  after  paying  court  to  the  young 
French  king,  went,"  says  the  Venetian  ambassador,  to 
visit  the  Queen  of  Scotland,  with  whom,  in  the  presence 
of  the  Duke  of  Guise  and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  he 
held  very  confidential  communications,  and,  I  am  assured 
that,  besides  his  other  concerns,  Don  Juan  is  also 
empowered  to  treat  a  marriage  between  her  Majesty  and 
the  Prince  of  Spain."  ^ 

The  suspicion  that  such  negotiations  were  in  progress 
was  bound  to  create  a  deep  sensation  both  in  England  and 
France.  As  Throckmorton  remarked  to  the  Venetian 
ambassador,  if  the  marriage  took  place,  the  friendship 
subsisting  between  the  Queen  his  mistress,  and  the  King 
Catholic,  would  be  converted  into  a  no  less  enmity."^ 
Until  now,  Philip  had  given  Elizabeth  the  benefit  of  his 
influence  with  the  English  Catholics,  so  that  she  might  be 
unhampered  by  domestic  difficulties,  while  assisting  the 
Scots  against  the  efforts  of  the  French  for  the  annexation 
of  Scotland.  Such  a  policy  was,  however,  dictated  only 
by  what  he  deemed  a  peculiar  emergency.  It  must  have 
been  adopted  with  reluctance  ;  from  a  purely  Catholic 
point  of  view  it  was  difficult  to  justify  it ;  with  the  death 
of  Francis  II.  all  reason  for  its  continuance  appeared  to 
cease  ;  and,  even  before  this,  its  disadvantages  had  become 
only  too  obvious. 

On  July  25th  1560,  de  Quadra  reported  to  Philip  that 
the   Catholics  here  complain  that  your  Majesty  should 
sustain  this  Queen  in  her  dominions  and  so  cause  heresy  to 
strike  its  roots  in  this  realm,"  and  on  August  4th  he  even 
1  Venetian  State  Papers,  1558-80,  No.  233.  *  Ibid. 


122  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


wrote  that  it  was  no  longer  possible  for  him  to  do  anything 
for  Philip's  service  in  England.^  Thus,  before  the  death 
of  Francis  II.,  relations  between  Elizabeth  and  Philip  had 
already  become  strained  ;  and,  by  the  time  Philip  had  com- 
menced negotiations  for  the  Scottish  marriage,  the  reputation 
of  Elizabeth  had  become  seriously  compromised  by  the 
mysterious  death  of  Dudley's  wife.  Amy  Robsart,  and  by 
the  open  favour  she  was  showing  to  the  widower. 

So  much  was  this  so,  that  on  January  22  nd  de  Quadra 
assured  Philip  that  he  could,  if  he  would,  easily  turn  her 
out  of  her  kingdom  by  means  of  her  own  subjects,  and 
suggested  that,  in  view  of  possibilities,  some  step  should 
be  taken,  in  his  interests,  towards  declaring  her  suc- 
cessor.^ Following  this  came,  through  de  Quadra,  on 
February  22  nd,  a  request  from  Dudley  for  the  influence 
of  Philip  on  behalf  of  his  marriage  to  Elizabeth,  on  the 
promise  of  his  becoming  a  supporter  of  Catholicism.^ 

While  putting  but  little  faitli  in  the  intentions  of 
Dudley  or  Elizabeth,  Philip  thereupon  instructed  his 
ambassador  to  do  all  that  he  could  to  inveigle  them  into 
the  marriage,^  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  would  inevitably 
ensure  Elizabeth's  ruin.  Had  they  proceeded  in  their 
path  of  folly  to  the  end,  the  advisability  of  the  marriage 
of  Don  Carlos  to  her  rival  would  have  been  unquestionable. 
But  it  was  almost  impossible,  in  any  given  case,  to  predict 
what  Elizabeth  might  or  might  not  do  ;  and  it  may  have 
been  that,  being  fully  aware  of  Philip's  aims,  she  was 
mainly  endeavouring  to  beguile  him.  At  any  rate,  she 
meanwhile  had  sent  Bedford  to  Paris  to  form  an  alliance 

1  Spa?nsh  State  Papers,  1558-67,  pp.  171,  174. 
3  Ibid.,  p.  180.  3  j^i^^  ^  180-4. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  184-5. 


J^rom  an  anony,uous  dra^.In^  in  the  BiUiothe.ue  Xationale,  Paris. 

Photo  by  A.  Giratidon,  Paris. 
CATHERINE  DE  MEDICI  IX  1561. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  123 


with  the  Huguenots,  and  to  do  his  utmost  to  prevent  the 
marriage  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  to  a  foreign  prince. 

But  PhiHp  was  also  failing  to  take  into  sufficient  account 
the  alarm  which  the  marriage  scheme  was  bound  to  arouse 
in  France,  not  only  among  the  Protestants  but  among 
many  Catholics.  More  especially  was  he  astray  as  to  the 
character  of  the  opposition  that  might  be  expected  from 
Catherine  de  Medici,  the  peculiarities  of  whose  strong  and 
exceptional  personality  were  only  beginning  to  manifest 
themselves.  To  Catherine  the  proposed  marriage  was 
entirely  detestable,  alike  on  public  grounds  and  for 
her  own  private  reasons.  But  of  course  the  private 
reasons  were  here  the  supreme  consideration.  Had  the 
future  of  France  been  her  main  care,  she  could  at  once 
have  stopped  the  Spanish  negotiations  by  offering  Mary 
the  hand  of  Charles  IX.  A  dispensation  for  such  a 
marriage  could  have  been  obtained  without  difficulty,  and, 
in  promoting  it,  Catherine  would  only  have  been  helping 
to  give  effect  to  the  long-cherished  purposes  of  her  late 
husband,  and  would  have  been  credited,  at  least  by  Catholic 
opinion,  with  rendering  an  inestimable  service  to  France. 
But  such  a  marriage  would  mean  in  the  end  the  reinstate- 
ment of  the  Guises  in  power,  and,  as  before,  her  own 
political  annihilation. 

In  her  own  view  also  she  had  no  option  but  to  do  her 
best  to  prevent  Mary  making  an  alliance  that  would  add 
to  the  prestige  of  Mary  and  Mary's  uncles  ;  and  for  this 
reason  alone  she  was  prepared  to  go  any  length  in  her 
opposition  to  the  Spanish  marriage.  She  had,  besides,  hopes 
of  securing  the  hand  of  Don  Carlos  for  her  youngest 
daughter  Margaret,  whom  Henry  II.  had  designed  for 
Henri  de  B6arn,  afterwards  Henry  IV.  ;   and  she  now. 


124  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 

through  her  daughter-in-law,  sought  to  bring  the  claims  of 
Margaret  before  the  attention  of  Philip. 

Not  only  so,  but  she  even  promised — for  the  bafflement 
of  her  rivals  was  dear  to  her  almost  beyond  price — to  place 
the  young  King  under  Philip's  guardianship  and  to  cause 
the  King  of  Navarre  to  renounce  his  pretensions  to  that 
country,  if  only  Philip  would  depart  from  a  scheme  which 
promised  to  restore  her  rivals  to  more  than  their  old 
influence.  Finding  her  offers  and  promises  at  first  of  no 
avail,  she  had  recourse  to  warnings  and  even  vowed,  rather 
than  that  Philip's  purpose  towards  Mary  should  have  effect, 
to  ally  herself  with  the  heretics  and  with  Elizabeth. 

Threatened  with  a  combination  against  him  of  two 

women  so  formidable  and,  both  politically  and  religiously, 

so  apparently  unscrupulous,  Philip's  heart  began  to  fail 

him,  and  he  shrank  from  facing  the  possibilities  which 

Catherine's  menaces  conjured  up.    As  the  affianced  bride 

of  Don  Carlos,  Mary  could  hardly  have  gained  possession 

of  her  Scottish  throne  without  the  armed  assistance  of 

Spain  ;   and  since  Elizabeth  had  apparently  dropped  her 

intention  of  immediately  marrying  Dudley,  the  hope  of  a 

Catholic  rising  in  England  had  become  rem.ote.  Moreover, 

Philip,  as  a  sincere  Catholic,  dreaded  to  be  the  occasion, 

even  indirectly,  of  strengthening  the  Huguenot  cause  in 

France.    Towards  the  end  of  April,  therefore,  Catherine 

was  gladdened  by  the  announcement  from  her  daughter 

that  the  scheme  of  the  Guises — in  regard  to  which  she 

had  no  official  information,  either  from  the  Guises  or 

Philip — had    failed,  and   that    the   negotiations   for  the 

marriage  would  not  proceed  further.^ 

^  Paris,  Negociations  sous  Francois  II.,  p.  847,  See  also  especially 
Cheruel,  Marie  Stuart  et  Catherine  de  Media's ;  and  de  Ruble,  La  Premiere 
Jeunesse. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN 


125 


According  to  Brantome,  Mary  "  desired  a  hundred 
times  more  to  remain  in  France  a  simple  dowager,  and 
content  herself  with  Touraine  and  Poictou  for  her  dowry 
than  to  go  to  reign  in  her  savage  country  :  but  messieurs 
her  uncles,  at  least  some  if  not  all  of  them,  counselled 
her  to  go."  ^  In  this  statement  there  is  no  doubt  a  great 
deal  of  truth.  She  would  not  have  returned  to  Scotland 
could  she  have  well  avoided  it  ;  but  (i)  it  was  her  best 
chance  of  winning  Don  Carlos,  and  (2)  her  uncles  would 
have  had  no  peace  from  Catherine  until  they  had  sent 
their  niece  out  of  the  country.  On  account  of  Mary's 
letters  patent  to  the  Scottish  Parliament,  formally  an- 
nouncing the  death  of  her  husband,^  Dr.  Hay  Fleming 
supposes  that  for  some  time  after  the  death  of  Francis  II. 
Mary  was  "  on  good  terms  with  her  mother-in-law  "  ;  ^  but 
the  situation  was  rather  that  of  an  armed  truce.  Nominally 
she  and  her  uncles  had  compromised  matters  with  Catherine  : 
but  the  real  character  of  the  terms  on  which  they  stood 
to  her  was  shown  by  the  removal  of  the  Guises  from 
power,  and  by  the  story  of  the  Spanish  match. 

There  was  thus  left  for  Mary  no  other  choice  than 
the  great  venture  of  a  return  to  Scotland.  But  from  the 
first  she  had  contemplated  the  alternative  of  a  return 
without  any  form  of  foreign  help,  and  had  been  doing 
her  utmost  to  secure  for  herself  a  favourable  welcome 
from  her  Scottish  subjects.  There  was  of  course  the 
almost  insuperable  difficulty  of  the  question  of  religion, 
which  had  done  so  much  to  drive  her  mother  from 
power  ;  but  Mary  had  probably,  as  yet,  but  an  im- 
perfect knowledge  of  its  formidable  character,  and  she 

^  (EuvreSf  ed.  Buchon,  ii.  136.  ^  Labanoff,  i.  80-4. 

3  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  34. 


126  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


had  resolved  to  adopt  meanwhile  a  temporising  policy. 
This  she  would  be  better  able  to  do  than  had  her  mother, 
for  the  reason  that  she  would  be  unhampered  by  the 
necessity  of  securing  French  dominance  in  Scotland,  the 
grand  project  for  the  annexation  of  Scotland  to  France 
having  collapsed  with  the  death  of  Francis  II. 

As  soon  also  as  the  Scots  came  to  know  that  they  had 
not  to  dread  any  French  entanglement,  her  sovereignty 
would  become  more  acceptable  to  them.  Could  she 
now  succeed  in  identifying  herself,  as  her  Scottish  ancestors 
had  done,  primarily  with  the  interests  of  the  Scottish 
nation,  all,  notwithstanding  the  nation's  internal  divisions, 
might  possibly  be  well  with  her.  The  main  question  was 
whether  with  her  foreign  upbringing,  her  special  ecclesiastical 
bias,  and  her  peculiar  ambitions,  she  could  properly  under- 
stand the  nature  of  the  Scottish  political  situation,  as,  for 
example,  Elizabeth  understood  the  political  situation  in 
England. 

Some  time  before  her  mother's  death  her  mother's 
authority  had  been  over,  and  her  own  sovereignty  had 
virtually,  if  not  formally,  lapsed.  The  government  was 
now  in  the  victorious  hands  of  the  lords  of  the  Congre- 
gation, headed  nominally  by  the  Duke  of  Chatelherault, 
who  was  now  gratified  by  the  definite  declaration  of 
Parliament  as  to  his  right  of  heir-apparency  to  the  crown, 
and  again  found  himself,  by  one  of  the  strange  revenges 
which  the  whirligig  of  time  sometimes  brings  round,  in 
substantially  the  same  high  position  that  he  had  occupied 
during  Mary's  infancy.  As  before,  however,  he  was  but 
a  figure-head — the  mere  puppet  of  more  determined,  if 
not  more  ambitious,  personalities  than  himself.  As  before, 
also,  the  country  was  virtually  under  the  dominance  of 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  127 


the  ecclesiastics  :  not  however,  represented  by  those  of 
the  faith  of  Cardinal  Beaton — now  long  gone  to  his  account 
— or  of  Beaton's  successor,  the  Duke's  scandalous  half- 
brother,  John  Hamilton,  but  by  the  party  whom  Beaton 
had  so  sternly  and  cruelly  persecuted,  the  party  of  the 
redoubtable  John  Knox  and  of  his  political  henchman, 
Lord  James  Stewart,  who  had  the  honour  to  be,  though 
by  left-handed  descent,  half-brother  of  the  absent  Queen. 

The  Duke,  after  his  weak  and  dull  manner,  had  no 
doubt  continued  to  bear  a  grudge  against  the  Queen- 
Dowager  for  his  deprivation  of  the  regency  and  the 
failure  of  his  scheme,  countenanced  by  Beaton,  for  the 
marriage  of  his  son  to  her  daughter  ;  and  he  was  now 
enticed,  as  he  had  been  enticed  before,  to  make  a  profession 
of  Protestantism,  in  the  hope,  as  before,  that  his  heirs 
should  inherit  the  Scottish  throne.  The  proposal,  however, 
by  which  he  had  now  been  beguiled  was  that  Elizabeth — 
as  long  ago  had  been  suggested  by  Henry  VIII. — should 
marry  his  son.  But  even  had  Elizabeth  not  then  been, 
as  she  was,  in  the  most  enamoured  stage  of  the  Dudley 
flirtation,  and  had  she  not  been  disinclined  to  marry 
either  Dudley  or  any  one  else,  she  would  not  have  chosen 
Arran. 

The  aim  of  the  Protestant  Scots  was  to  unite  the 
two  kingdoms  under  Arran  and  Elizabath ;  but  this  aim  was 
kept  in  a  manner  in  the  background.  Indeed  the  Estates 
had  intimated  to  Francis  II.  their  purpose  of  sanctioning 
the  marriage,  and  had  had  the  audacity  to  "  request  him 
to  direct  his  ambassador  in  England  to  assist  theirs  herein."  ^ 
Elizabeth,  however,  would  not  have  accepted  the  Scottish 
crown,  either  with  or  without  Arran.  The  political 
^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  476. 


128  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


complications  created  by  it  would  have  been  too  perilous  ; 
and,  besides,  Elizabeth  never  manifested  any  special  interest, 
either  in  the  permanent  union  of  the  two  kingdoms  or 
in  the  future  of  Protestantism  in  Britain.  What  she  was 
mainly  anxious  for  was  to  be  let  alone  to  govern  her  own 
kingdom  in  peace  ;  what  might  be  its  fate — far  less  the 
fate  of  Scotland — after  she  was  done  with  it,  troubled  her 
but  little. 

The  failure  of  the  proposal  was  evidently  anticipated 
both  by  Lord  James  and  Maitland  ;  but  had  Francis  II. 
survived,  and  Mary  been  formally  deposed,  it  is  hardly 
likely  that  the  crown — Elizabeth  having  rejected  Arran — 
would  have  been  settled  on  the  Hamiltons.  The  chances 
are  that  it  would  have  lighted  on  the  head  of  Lord  James 
Stewart,  who  was  yet  unmarried.  Doubtless  there  were 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  such  a  consummation,  but  in  the 
end  the  stronger  and  abler  man  was  bound — in  such  a 
position  of  affairs  as  then  prevailed  in  Scotland — to  win. 
Chatelherault  and  Arran,  being  the  mere  puppets  that 
they  were,  would  have  been  put  aside  after  they  had 
ceased  to  serve  the  purpose  of  Lord  James  and  Maitland. 
The  existing  form  of  government  could  not  have  been 
permanent  had  Francis  II.  survived  ;  and  it  was  only 
by  electing  Lord  James  as  king  that  the  Scots  could 
have  put  their  house  fully  in  order. 

Without  the  summons  of  Mary,  the  Scottish  Parliament 
— or  rather  a  Protestant  and  packed  convention  bearing  that 
name — had  met  in  August,  1560,  and,  without  intimating 
to  her  their  purpose,  had  formally  adopted,  on  the  17th, 
as  the  nation's  Confession,"  a  complete  system  of 
Protestant  doctrine  :  and  on  the  25th  it  passed  three 
important  Acts,  the  first  abolishing  the  authority  of  the 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  129 

Pope  and  the  Catholic  prelates  ;  the  second  condemning  ' 
all  doctrine  contrary  to  the  newly  accepted  Confession ;  and  | 
the  third  forbidding,  under  severe  punishment — death  being  ^ 
that  for  the  third  offence — the  celebration,  or  attendance  / 
at  the  celebration,  of  the  Mass.    This  could  only  be  meant 
as  a  mere  preliminary  to  the  formal  deposition  of  their 
Catholic  Queen.    Yet  Acts  which  she  and  her  husband 
were  bound,  as  Catholics,  to  regard  with  mere  abhorrence 
the  Scots  had  had  the  assurance  to  send  to  them,  by  Sir  John 
Sandilands  of  Calder,  for  ratification.     They  could  not 
expect  that  their  ratification  would  ever  be  granted  ;  but 
should  Elizabeth  accept  the  Arran  proposal  they  would 
be  in  a  position  to  defy  their  nominal  sovereigns,  and 
should  she  not,  they  intended,  we  must  believe,  to  defy 
them  all  the  same.^ 

The  reply  of  Francis  to  the  Scottish  communication  was 
that  he  was  "  greatly  displeased  with  their  proceedings,' 
and  that  he  would  send  "  two  good  and  notable  personages 
as  his  deputies  to  assemble  Parliament  legitimately — and 
see  that  they  come  to  their  reasonable  Mebvoir.'"^ 

But  the  processes  which  were  determining  Mary's  life 
towards  its  tragic  close  seemed  ever  to  go  on  with  the 
regularity  of  clockwork.  Before  the  dispute  could  come 
to  an  issue,  Francis  II.  lay  adying  at  Orleans  ;  and  after 
his  death,  but  before  she  knew  of  its  occurrence,  Elizabeth 
handed  to  the  Scottish  Commissioners  in  London  her  reply 
to  the  Arran  marriage-proposal.  It  was  to  the  effect  that 
she  was  not  disposed  presently  to  marry  ;  and  it  seemed 
to  recommend  that  matters  in  Scotland  should  remain 
in  statu  quo^  Arran — whose  amour  propre  she  sought  to 
solace  by  the  declaration  that  he  was  "  a  noble  gentleman 

1  Ada  Pari.,  Scot,  ii.  525-35.  ^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  492. 

VOL.  I.  9 


I30  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


of  great  worthiness " — being  recommended  to  choose  a 
partner  according  to  his  own  will.^ 

Such  an  indefinite  arrangement  as  that  which  Elizabeth 
seemed  to  recommend  could  not  long  have  been  continued, 
had  not  the  apparently  impending  crisis  been,  by  the  death 
of  Francis,  succeeded  by  one  of  a  totally  different  character. 
That  death  closed  the  door  on  another  of  the  remarkable 
might-have-beens  in  the  history  of  Scotland  and  the  life  of 
Mary,  and  quite  transformed  the  immediate  political  out- 
look both  for  Scotland  and  her.  But  for  it,  Mary  might 
never  again  have  set  foot  on  Scottish  soil  except  by  armed 
aid.  The  sudden  crisis  found,  however,  the  Scottish 
political  leaders  with  their  plans  incomplete,  and  very  much 
at  a  loss  as  to  how  to  cope  with  it.  If  it  did  not  spread 
amongst  them  a  feeling  of  actual  consternation,  it  almost 
dumfoundered  them  with  perplexity  and  doubt. 

The  outstanding  Scottish  Protestant  personalities  at  this 
time,  those  on  whom  the  fate  of  Mary  and,  in  a  sense,  of 
Scotland  seemed  to  depend,  were  Knox,  Maitland,  and 
Lord  James  Stewart.  In  some  respects  Knox  was  the  most 
remarkable,  if  not  the  cleverest,  of  the  three.  He  was 
the  evangelical  successor  of  the  martyred  Wishart,  before 
whom  he  had,  in  his  younger  days,  carried  a  protective 
drawn  sword  ;  and  if  not  the  equal  of  his  ecclesiastical 
father  in  personal  modesty  or  mere  emotional  fervour,  he 
probably  far  excelled  him  in  that  combination  of  qualities 
which  constitutes  what  is  termed  force  of  character. 

A  fundamental  element  in  force  of  character  is,  of 
course,  a  certain  measure  of  self-assurance,  and  in  Knox 
self-assurance    ultimately  came  to    be  inordinately  large. 
Had  it  been  combined  with  weak  intellectual  capacity,  he 
^  Keith,  ii.  9-10;  For.  Ser.,  iii.  No.  786;  Scottish  Papers,  i.  49$. 


JOHN  KNOX. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN 


might  have  developed  into  a  type  of  religionist  represented 
by  the  modern  fanatic  revivalist,  or  had  it  represented 
mainly  narrow-minded  conviction,  he  might  have  degenerated 
into  a  mere  sectarian  faddist  ;  but  though  he  had  a  certain 
affinity  to  both  these  types,  Knox  owed  his  success  as 
Protestant  reformer  not  merely  to  his  inordinate  self- 
assurance  but  to  a  varied  combination  of  gifts  and  graces. 
His  vivid  eloquence,  declamatory  and  extravagant  though 
it  may  have  been,  was  tempered  by  a  strong  infusion  of 
common  sense,  and  much  insight  into  the  idiosyncrasies 
both  of  men  and  women  and  the  practical  needs  of  his 
time. 

The  cleverness  of  his  ridicule  was  on  a  par  with  the 
weight  and  fervour  of  his  denunciation  ;  and  as  an  orator 
of  the  racy,  forceful  and  assertive  type  he  can  have  been 
surpassed  by  few  of  any  time  or  country.  His  striking 
oratorical  gifts  secured  him  almost  unbounded  influence 
over  a  large  percentage  of  the  townsmen,  both  the  better 
class  burgesses  and  their  dependents  the  rascal  multitude  "  ; 
for  if  he  found  it  a  hard  task  to  bring  the  latter  under 
the  strict  discipline  of  the  Protestant  Kirk,  he  owed  to  them 
not  a  little  of  the  success  of  his  crusade  against  "  the 
monuments  of  idolatry." 

But  Knox  was  also  something  more  than  a  mere 
popular  ecclesiastical  orator  :  he  was,  like  the  great  Catholic 
ecclesiastics  of  his  time,  a  shrewd  man  of  the  world. 
Whatever  he  might  pretend  to  himself,  he  by  no  means 
acted  as  if  he  believed,  with  St.  Paul,  that  not  many 
mighty,  not  many  noble  are  called,"  or  that  the  things  in 
this  world  that  are  strong  could  be  put  to  shame  by  those 
that  are  weak. 

On  the  contrary,  he  seems  to  have  supposed  that  a 


132 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


preliminary  to  any  lasting  success  in  his  crusade  against 
the  Papacy,  was  to  secure  the  support  of  the  nobility  and 
gentry.  Therefore,  in  1555,  he  suggested  to  such  of 
them  as  were  already  inclined  to  the  Protestant  doctrines, 
to  invite  the  "  principal  men  of  the  country  "  to  what  would 
now  be  termed  a  house  party,  where  Knox  could  converse 
with  them  familiarly,  as  well  as  exercise  on  them  his  great 
gifts  of  public  persuasion.  His  round  of  visits  to  the 
country  houses  began  in  the  north-east  district,  where 
Erskine  of  Dun  was  the  host  ;  after  which  he  proceeded 
to  Calder  House,  in  West  Lothian,  the  seat  of  Sir  James 
Sandilands,  where  he  had  the  remarkable  good  fortune 
to  win  such  recruits  as  John,  fifth  Lord  Erskine,  Archibald 
Lord  Lorne,  afterwards  fifth  Earl  of  Argyll,  and  Lord  James 
Stewart,  then  Prior  of  St.  Andrews. 

After  a  winter  spent  in  Edinburgh,  and  devoted  mainly 
to  similar  tactics,  he  made  a  tour,  under  noble  and 
distinguished  patronage,"  in  the  west  of  Scotland,  officiating 
chiefly  in  the  houses  of  the  gentry,  including,  besides  several 
houses  of  the  lower  barons,  Ochiltree,  the  seat  of  the  lord 
of  that  name,  and  Finlaystone,  the  residence  of  the  Earl 
of  Glencairn,  where  he  "  ministered  at  the  Lordis  Table," 
after  what  he  deemed  the  non-idolatrous  fashion. 

Returning  by  Calder,  where  many  persons  of  mark  from 
Edinburgh  and  the  "  country  about  "  were  induced  to 
meet  him  for  the  rycht  use  of  the  Lordis  Table,"  he 
went  a  second  time  to  Dun,  where  hie  administered  the 
"  Table  of  the  Lord  Jesus  "  unto  the  "  most  parte  of  the 
gentilmen  of  the  Merse  "  ;  and  before  his  audacious  crusade 
against  the  Mass  compelled  him  again  to  return  to  Geneva, 
he  taught  in  Edinburgh,  in  the  Bishop  of  Dunkeld's  "  great 
lodging,"  to  a  greater  audience  than  he  had  ever  done  before. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN 


In  the  sixteenth  century  what  was  termed  the  Gospel 
of  Christ  had  ceased,  be  it  remembered,  to  be  altogether 
a  gospel  of  persuasion  and  peace.     Knox  had  necessarily, 
in  the  first  instance,  to  appeal  to  persuasion  ;  but  he  found 
it  desirable  above  all  things  to  persuade  the  mighty,  because 
he  intended  that,  ultimately,  compulsion  should  be  added 
to  persuasion.    Protestantism  had  no  chance,  then,  of  per- 
manently succeeding,  or  even  of  openly  surviving,  in  any 
country  unless  it  very  speedily  secured  a  preponderance 
of  the  armed  forces  :  the  absolute  "  truth  of  God  was 
then  supposed  to  be  within  the  reach  of  human  knowledge  ; 
but,  apparently,  for  any  particular  country,  what  it  was, 
could  be  determined,  not  even  by  the  count  of  heads,  but, 
in  the  end,  only  by  the  compulsion  of  the  civil  magistrate, 
inspired    by    the    spiritual    fear    of  the    divinely  guided 
ecclesiastic.    The  primary  aim  of  Knox  had  therefore  been 
to  secure  for  his  doctrine  the  support  of  the  pains  and 
penalties  that  were  at  the  civil  magistrate's  disposal,  and 
the  short  cut  to  this  consummation  was  to  gain  to  his 
side  the  support  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  with  their 
armed  followers. 

Mere  persuasion  could  not  have  created  the  swift  and 
startling  ecclesiastical  revolution  of  1560.  It  was  effected 
by  the  sword,  and  by  the  external  help  of  England  ;  and, 
moreover,  its  most  influential  supporters  were  not  all 
impelled  mainly  by  religious  or  ecclesiastical  motives.  The 
nobles  listened  to  Knox  because  they  had  special  worldly 
grievances  against  the  Catholic  clergy  ;  many  of  the  gentry, 
as  well  as  the  people,  supported  the  Reformation  from 
dread  of  French  domination  ;  and  much  of  the  fervour 
displayed  against  the  "monuments  of  idolatry"  represented 
the  merely  destructive  passion  of  a  democratic  mob. 


134  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


As  regards  Knox  himself,  it  would  be  unjust  to  affirm 
that  his  motives  were  essentially  personal  and  selfish.  That 
even  in  his  regenerate  condition  he  was  quite  uninfluenced 
by  mere  personal  ambition  and  love  of  predominance 
can  hardly  be  maintained  ;  but  yet  of  the  honesty  of  his 
behefs,  the  fervour  of  his  ecclesiastical  zeal,  and  his  high 
devotion  to  what  he  deemed  a  great  cause  there  can, 
in  the  century  that  now  is,  hardly  be  a  question. 

Still,  he  was  primarily,  of  course,  an  ecclesiastic — an 
ecclesiastic  of  the  sixteenth  century  ;  and  he  could  not 
leap  away  from  his  shadow.  With  his  zeal  and  force  of 
character  he  dominated  the  new  ecclesiastical  situation  in 
Scotland,  and  under  his  guidance  the  Reformation  there 
was  bound  to  assume  a  more  intolerant  and  ambitious 
character  than  it  had  done  in  England,  where  ecclesiastical 
excesses  and  pretensions  were  on  the  whole  admirably  held 
in  check  by  the  secular-minded  and  self-devoted  Elizabeth. 

But  it  is  as  idle  to  denounce  the  narrow  intolerance 
and  unlimited  ecclesiastical  ambition  of  Knox  as  it  is 
absurd  to  belaud  them,  or  to  affirm  that  the  Scot  was 
practically  not  the  Scot  until  Knox  created  him.  The 
contribution  of  any  single  individual  to  the  formation  of 
what  is  called  national  character  can  in  the  long  run  be 
but  infinitesimal,  however  much  he  may  be  able  to  con- 
tribute to  a  nation's  temporary  eccentricities.  There  could, 
for  example,  be  no  greater  misrepresentation  of  the  legacy 
Knox  left  to  Scotland,  than  to  affirm  that  it  owes  to  him 
its  intellectual  freedom,  such  as  it  is.  Intellectual  freedom 
cannot  be  gained  at  a  bound  ;  and  not  only  so,  but  the 
intellectual  freedom  which  many  now  deem  an  indispensable 
element  of  their  manhood,  was  not  then  supposed  to  be  a 
proper  possession  for  any  one,  and  Knox — an  ecclesiastic 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  135 


to  the  marrow  of  his  bones — had  he  met  it  in  any  one, 
would  have  been  almost  petrified  with  horror. 

The  mission  of  Knox,  according  to  his  own  view,  was 
to  make  known  what  he  deemed  the  "  truth  of  God," 
the  truth  which  he  supposed  to  have  been  set  down,  by 
direct  communication  from  Heaven,  in  a  supernatural 
book,  of  which,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  he  was  the  divinely 
appointed  interpreter.  How  a  supernatural  book  should 
require  any  merely  human  interpretation  to  make  its 
meaning  clearer,  and  how  the  divinely  appointed  interpreter 
of  it  was  to  be  known,  are  doubtless  bewildering  puzzles 
to  merely  natural  human  reason  ;  but  once  admit  the  direct 
interference  of  supernaturalism,  and  all  such  difficulties 
dissolve  like  snow  before  the  summer  sun. 

What  therefore  Knox,  in  effect,  aspired  to  be,  and 
what  in  effect  he  largely,  though — by  the  mercy  of  Heaven 
and  the  peculiarly  stubborn  waywardness  of  Scottish  human 
nature — not  altogether,  succeeded  in  becoming,  was  the 
Reformation  Pope  of  Scotland.  Of  the  almost  boundless 
character  of  his  ecclesiastical  assertiveness  we  have  a 
piquant  example  in  a  letter  of  his  to  Elizabeth,  which,  be  it 
remembered,  he  meant  to  be  conciliatory,  but  in  which  he 
spontaneously  offered  to  her  his  advice,  or  rather  command, 
as  to  how  she  should  demean  herself  as  sovereign,  warning 
her  that  "  if  she  refused  the  counsel  of  the  faithfuU  "  [that 
is,  of  Knox],  "  appear  it  never  so  sharpe,"  she  would  do 
so  to  her  own     perdition."  ^ 

Knox's  influence  in  England  was  indirect  and  limited  ; 
but  in  Scotland  it  was  direct,  and  he  was  determined  that 
it  should  be  as  unlimited  as  possible.  He  could  therefore 
be  prepared  to  welcome  Mary's  return  to  Scotland  only 
^  Knox,  Works,  vi.  47-51. 


136 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


on  condition  of  the  probability  that  she  would  place  herself 
under  his  direction,  in  even  a  more  absolute  sense  than  her 
mother  had  placed  herself  under  the  direction  of  Beaton  ; 
and  as  matter  of  fact  the  main  political  problem  of  Scotland 
for  the  next  few  years  was,  in  effect,  whether  Knox  or 
Mary  should  be  its  sovereign. 

Knox,  indeed,  affirms  that  the  death  of  Francis  II., 
which  almost  necessitated  Mary's  return,  was  the  "  cause 
of  joy  to  us  in  Scotland,"  ^  and  it  may  be  granted  that 
Knox  never  had  any  scruple  in  rejoicing  at  the  death  of 
his  enemies  ;  but  in  this  particular  case  a  little  anxiety, 
if  not  some  trembhng,  must  have  mingled  with  his  mirth. 
True,  he  was  comforted  by  the  expectation — though  when 
the  news  reached  him  of  the  death  of  Francis  he  could 
not  be  quite  certain  of  this — that  the  faithful  "  in 
France  would  be  delivered  by  it  ;  and  there  was  also  the 
prospect  of  temporary  relief  in  Scotland  from  what  Ran- 
dolph, the  English  ambassador,  describes  as  the  "  schurge  " 
that  was  "  hangyne  over  yt,"  by  the  apparent  threat  of 
a  second  French  invasion.-  All  this  was  very  well  so 
far  as  it  went,  and  had  Mary  died  also,  Knox's  cup  of 
thanksgiving  would  have  been  running  over ;  but  since 
she  was  alive,  the  death  of  her  husband  might  prove, 
as,  for  a  time  at  least,  it  did,  the  reverse  of  a  blessing 
to  the  "  faithful  in  Scotland."  Randolph's — or  Maitland's 
— anticipations  were  to  be  in  the  end  fully  justified  : 
"  I  beleve  here  wylbe  a  madde  worlde  !  Our  exacteness 
and  singularitie  in  religion  will  never  concurre  with  her 
judgemente.  I  thynk  that  she  wyll  hardeley  be  broughte 
under  the  rule  of  our  discipline,  of  the  which  we  can 
remytte  nothynge  to  anye  estate  or  persone."  ^ 

^  Works,  ii.  32         2  Scottish  Papers,  i.  498.        ^  Ibid.,  i.  520. 


From  the  picture  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl  of  Lauderdale. 


MAITLAND  OF  LETHINGTON. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN 


137 


The  character  and  real  intentions  both  of  Maitland 
and  Lord  James  Stewart  are  harder  to  read  than  those 
of  Knox.  The  latter  are  written  large  in  Knox's  own 
account  of  himself  and  his  contemporaries,  and  in  the 
features  of  his  remarkable  handiwork,  the  Scottish  Reforma- 
tion. Though  he  exercised  much  secret  influence  over 
the  Lords  of  the  Congregation,  and  could  also  do  some 
intriguing  on  his  own  account,  without  their  knowledge, 
his  general  political  aims  were  never  matter  of  doubt  : 
when  he  sought  to  conceal,  or  made  pretence  to  modify 
his  real  opinions — as  in  the  case  of  female  sovereignty,  so 
far  as  it  concerned  Elizabeth — he  showed  that  he  was  a 
mere  tyro  in  the  art  of  humbug.  If  meddlesome,  he  was 
candid.  Few  who  have  sought  to  busy  themselves  with  the 
great  practical  problems  of  politics  have  ever  been  more 
open  and  above  board ;  and  we  must  believe  that  he  fully 
deserved  the  epitaph  uttered  by  Morton  at  the  side  of 
his  grave  :  *'  He  nather  fearit  nor  flatterit  any  fleche." 

On  the  other  hand,  Maitland,  while  perfectly  honest 
in  his  main  political  aims,  was  essentially  a  diplomatist, 
a  diplomatist  in  an  age  when  diplomacy  had  reached  the 
height  of  its  unscrupulous  subtlety  ;  and  again  in  Lord 
James  we  are  presented  with  the  problem  of  a  statesman 
who,  by  reason  of  the  peculiarity  of  his  birth  and  his 
relationship  to  the  sovereign,  was  placed  in  a  position  of 
exceptional  delicacy  and  difficulty.  The  fact  that  he  was 
in  a  peculiar  way  equal  to  it,  in  some  sense  deepens  the 
mystery  that  attaches  to  him.  Which  of  the  two,  Maitland 
or  Moray,  was  in  reality  the  cleverer  may  be  a  moot  point, 
but  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  Maitland  was  the  more 
thorough  politician. 

Generally  known  as  Maitland  the  younger,  of  Lethington, 


138  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


William  Maitland  was  the  eldest  son  of  the  famous  lawyer 
and  poet,  Sir  Richard  Maitland,  Lord  Lethington,  who 
long  survived  him.  The  family,  of  ancient  Norman  descent, 
was  settled  in  Berwickshire  as  early  as  the  twelfth  century  ; 
but  none  of  its  members  was  ever  ennobled,  and  they 
belonged  to  that  class  of  gentry  whose  fortunes  depended 
greatly  on  success  at  court.  On  this  account  Maitland 
received  a  very  thorough  education,  which  was  completed 
abroad  ;  and  like  his  father  he,  early  in  life,  entered  the 
royal  service.  It  was  no  doubt  his  father's  influence  that 
secured  him,  about  1 5  54,  a  position  in  the  household  of 
the  Queen-Dowager,  to  whom  his  great  discretion  and 
ability  must  soon  have  been  evident,  and  who,  after 
employing  him  on  several  important  diplomatic  missions, 
conferred  on  him,  on  December  4th,  the  high  office  of 
Secretary  of  State.  Yet  almost  from  the  time  that  he 
entered  her  service  he  had  seemingly  ceased  to  be  a 
convinced  Catholic. 

While  at  supper,  in  1555,  along  with  other  promising 
young  men  whom  the  laird  of  Dun  had  invited  to  meet  Knox, 
Maitland  had,  it  would  appear,  a  sharp  bout  of  argument 
as  to  attendance  on  the  Mass,  nothing  being  omitted  by  him 
that  "mycht  mak  for  the  temporisar"  ;  but  in  the  end  he 
greatly  gratified  the  self-sufficiency  of  Knox  by  saying,  "  I 
see  perfytlye  that  our  schiftis  will  serve  nothing  befoir  God, 
seeing  that  thei  stand  us  in  so  small  stead  befoir  man." 
It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Knox,  being  evidently  very 
hard  pressed  by  the  "  sharp  wit  "  of  Maitland,  found  it 
needful  to  express  his  disbelief  that  James'  command- 
ment, or  Paul's  obedience,"  in  a  certain  matter,  "proceeded 
from  the  Holy  Ghost."  ^  Plainly  if  Knox  knew  better 
*  Knox,  Works,  i.  248. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  139 


than  either  James  or  Paul,  it  was  vain  for  Maitland  to 
argue  further  with  him  ;  but  it  may  be  that  Maitland,  even 
thus  early,  as  later,  did  not  quite  accept  Knox  at  his  own 
valuation,  though  he  was  too  prudent  to  say  so. 

Whether  Maitland,  notwithstanding  this  remarkable 
discussion,  continued  his  conformance  to  Catholic  ob- 
servances we  are  not  informed.  In  accordance  with  the 
advice  of  her  brother,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  the  Queen- 
Dowager  was  then  dealing  "  in  Scotland  in  a  spirit  of 
conciliation."  She  had  not  taken  any  definite  action  against 
the  Protestants  until  some  time  after  Maitland  had  become 
her  secretary  ;  and  it  was  only  after  this,  also,  that  her 
real  designs  as  to  French  annexation  would  become  manifest 
to  him. 

As,  in  some  disputes  with  the  Doctors  of  the  Sorbonne, 
Maitland  had  made  it  evident  that  he  was  at  least  by  no 
means  an  orthodox  Catholic,  his  position  had  become  highly 
dangerous.  But  a  formal  resignation  of  such  an  office  was 
not  then  possible  ;  it  would  have  meant  his  imprisonment, 
if  not  his  death.  It  is  therefore  nothing  to  his  discredit, 
that  for  some  time  after  he  was  fully  aware  of  her 
treacherous  purpose,  he  continued  nominally  in  her  service, 
and  waited  a  favourable  opportunity  to  desert  to  the  Lords 
of  the  Congregation.  This  occurred  after  they  occupied 
Edinburgh,  on  October  i8th,  1559.  Next  day  Maitland 
made  his  escape  from  Leith,  in  which  the  Queen-Regent 
had  fortified  herself ;  and,  after  delivering  himself  up  to 
Kirkcaldy  of  Grange,  he  advised  that  the  Queen-Regent 
should  be  opposed  to  the  uttermost,  affirming  that  there 
was  nothing  in  her  but  "  craft  and  deceit."  ^ 

Henceforth  Maitland  showed  himself  an  irreconcilable 
^  Knox,  Works,  i.  464. 


140 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


opponent  of  any  French  alliance.  Since  he  had  so  com- 
pletely burned  his  boats  he  had,  of  course,  for  the  time 
being,  no  other  choice  ;  but  he  burned  them,  we  must 
suppose,  because  of  the  special  knowledge  he  had  acquired 
of  the  French  designs.  His  desertion  was  thus  an  almost 
irreparable  calamity  to  the  Queen-Regent,  whose  specious 
pretences  could  now  deceive  nobody  ;  and  it  was  probably 
in  consequence  of  his  revelations  that  the  Council,  on  the 
22nd,  resolved  to  suspend  her  from  the  office  of  Regent. 
The  transfer  of  his  unique  talents  as  diplomatist  to  the 
cause  of  the  Lords  had  also  much  to  do  with  the  final 
triumph  of  their  cause.  Apart  from  his  peculiar  gift  of 
persuasion,  he  could  bring  special  influence  to  bear  on  the 
nobles  and  barons,  to  whom  the  mere  triumph  of  Pro- 
testantism counted  for  nothing. 

By  his  skilful  baits  Maitland  finally,  after  many  evasions, 
won  over  to  the  Lords  even  the  shifty  Earl  of  Huntly — the 
"wily  young  man  "  of  Henry  VIII. 's  time — whose  jealousy 
had  been  aroused  by  his  virtual  supersession  in  the 
Chancellorship  by  de  Rubay,  but  whose  Catholicism  and 
selfish  caution  had  hitherto  kept  him  aloof  from  the 
Protestant  party.  On  April  28th,  1560,  Huntly  was 
prevailed  upon  to  sign  the  Lords'  bond  for  the  defence  of 
the  Reformed  doctrines  and  the  expulsion  of  the  French, 
though  he  did  so  secretly  in  the  presence  of  Lord  Ruthven, 
Maitland,  and  Randolph,  requiring  them  "  to  keep  it  secret 
for  two  or  three  days."  ^ 

The  neutral  nobles  such  as  Morton — then,  on  account 
of  the  minority  of  Angus,  the  acting  head  of  the  Douglases 
— Hume,  and  others  of  the  south  of  Scotland,  w^hose  interest 
in  the  quarrel  came  to  be  only  personal  or  political,  were 
'  Scottish  Papers^  i.  386, 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  141 


also  won,  mainly  by  Maitland's  handling  of  them.  On 
May  6th  Morton,  Borthwick,  Douglas  of  Drumlanrig, 
the  Kers  of  Ferniehurst  and  Cessfurd,  and  twenty-three 
others  over  whom  Morton  had  special  influence,  signed 
the  common  band  ;  and  there  was  thus  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  Morton-Mainland  alliance,  which,  broken  and 
renewed  more  than  once,  was  to  have  much  to  do  with 
the  wild  occurrences  of  subsequent  years. 

Thus  we  may  almost  say  that,  in  securing  the  triumph 
of  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation,  Maitland  is  entitled  to 
rank  alongside  of  Knox.  Though  he  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  original  opposition  to  the  Queen-Dowager,  he  set 
that  opposition  on  a  much  firmer  basis,  rallying  around 
it  many  supporters  whose  interest  in  the  religious  question 
was  but  secondary.  For  a  time  his  political  influence 
became  as  supreme  as  the  ecclesiastical  influence  of  Knox, 
and  he  held  the  Scottish  nobility  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand. 

I  find  Lethington,"  wrote  Cecil,  disposed  to  work 
the  nobility  to  allow  whatever  your  Majesty  determine  ; 
he  is  of  most  credit  for  his  wit,  and  almost  sustains  the 
whole  burden  of  foresight."  ^ 

Great  as  was  the  work  done  by  Maitland  in  the  organi- 
sation of  a  political  opposition  in  Scotland  against  the 
Queen-Dowager,  he  rendered  the  Protestants  a  service  quite 
as  invaluable  as  this  in  securing  for  them  the  armed  aid 
of  Elizabeth.  That  only  some  three  weeks  after  he  had 
gone  over  to  the  Lords,  he  should  have  been  chosen  to 
go  on  so  cardinal  a  mission,  is  testimony  suflicient  to 
the  astounding  growth  of  his  influence  ;  but  the  choice 
of  him  was  more  than  justified  by  results.  The  revelations 
he  was  able  to  make  as  to  "  the  French  devices  to  the 
^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  427. 


142 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


prejudice  of  England  "  ^  doubtless  greatly  commended  him 
to  Elizabeth  and  Cecil  ;  but  in  whatever  company  he 
was,  Maitland  always  wielded  great  personal  ascendancy. 
More  truly  of  him  than  of  Mary,  it  may  be  said  that  he 
was  in  possession  of  a  magic  whereby  men  are  bewitched," 
for  his  witchery  was  exercised  over  persons  who  were  in 
great  part  proof  against  the  womanly  charms  of  Mary. 
No  one  had  ever  a  better  grasp  of  the  realities  of  a  political 
situation  ;  no  one  could  read  more  unerringly  the  motives 
of  his  opponents  ;  no  one  could  mystify  and  bewilder 
them  with  such  cunning  subtlety.  And,  while  he  had  an 
almost  unequalled  gift  of  plausibility,  he  had  also  the 
advantage  of  entire  sincerity  in  his  main  political  aims  ; 
and  in  any  cause  on  which  his  heart  was  bent,  he  could 
bring  to  the  aid  of  his  acute  intellect  a  very  real  emotional 
eloquence. 

In  his  first  mission  to  Elizabeth,  Maitland  also  appeared 
to  the  very  best  advantage,  for  he  was  able  to  convey  the 
perfectly  true  impression  that  his  intentions  were  absolutely 
sincere,  and  that  he  had  at  heart  the  interests  of  England, 
because  he  was  convinced  that  its  interests  were  inseparably 
bound  up  with  those  of  Scotland.  His  aim  was  not  to 
tempt  Elizabeth  to  deliver  the  Scots  out  of  a  merely 
temporary  difficulty,  or  even  to  assure  the  triumph  of 
Protestantism  in  Scotland,  but  to  promote  permanent 
goodwill  between  the  two  countries. 

That  Elizabeth  was  profoundly  impressed  with  his 
sincerity  and  ability,  was  shown  by  her  in  a  letter  to 
Norfolk,  requiring  him  to  take  precaution  that  Maitland's 
life  was  not  endangered  by  the  French  on  his  way  north, 
and  referring  to  Maitland  as  "  one  in  whom  ye  shall  find 
^  Instructions  in  Sadler's  State  Papers,  i.  604-8. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN 


143 


much  understanding  and  knowledge  of  the  state  of  Scot- 
land, and,  as  we  trust,  a  plain  earnest  affection  to  have 
his  country  free  from  conquest  or  oppression."  ^  Besides 
being  the  main  agent  in  securing  the  treaty  of  Berwick, 
February  27th,  1559-60,  by  which  armed  aid  was  obtained 
for  the  Protestant  Lords,  it  was  mainly  by  his  management 
that  the  Scots  agreed  to  the  treaty  of  Edinburgh,  July  6th, 
1560,  which,  on  certain  conditions,  provided  for  the  disuse 
of  the  English  title  and  arms  by  Francis  and  Mary  ; 
Cecil,  in  a  letter  to  Norfolk,  June  25th,  while  the  nego- 
tiations were  proceeding,  affirmed  that,  but  for  him,  the 
folly  of  others  "  would  hazard  all."  ^ 

Maitland's  attitude  towards  the  proposed  Elizabeth- 
Arran  marriage  was  a  little  ambiguous,  but  this  is  hardly 
surprising.  He  told  Cecil  that  he  had  agreed  to  join  the 
deputation  only  in  order  not  to  give  offence  to  the  Duke 
and  Arran,  who  had  earnestly  pressed  him  to  go  ;  and, 
in  a  later  letter,  he  informed  him  that  the  general  wish 
for  the  marriage  was  so  earnest  that  it  seemed  to  be  the 
only  meanes  to  joyne  us  in  ane  indissoluble  union."  ^ 
He  did  not  dare  to  do  more  against  the  project  than 
advise  delay,  in  order  that  it  might  the  better  succeed  ; 
and  he  acted  towards  Elizabeth  as  if  he  knew  nothing  of 
her  preferences  :  he  wished  no  pleasour  to  any  my 
countrymen,  joyned  with  her  Majestie's  displesour."  *  And 
had  he  been  as  anxious  for  the  completion  of  the  arrange- 
ment as  were,  seemingly,  the  majority  of  the  Scots,  the 
reception  which  Elizabeth  gave  the  proposal  showed  that 
his  caution  was  fully  justified. 

By  the  death  of  Francis,  two  days  before  Elizabeth 

»  Scottish  Papers,  i.  316.  '  Hatfield  MSS,,  i.  p.  241. 

3  Ibid,,  i.  461,  464.  *  Ibid.^  i.  484. 


144 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


had  handed  in  her  dubious  declinature  to  the  Scottish 
Commissioners,  the  unwise  haste  of  their  proposal  was  still 
further  made  manifest.  Froude  ^  supposes  that  her  refusal 
was  the  result  of  the  news  of  the  death  of  Francis  ;  and 
Mr.  Lang  puts  the  case  thus,  "  Elizabeth  now,  out  of 
fear,  declined  to  marry  Arran."  ^  According  to  Mr.  Lang's 
punctuation,  the  meaning  of  his  sentence  would  be  that 
Elizabeth,  in  declining  to  marry  Arran,  was  actuated  by  fear  ; 
but,  from  the  context,  the  meaning  which  Mr.  Lang 
intends  to  convey  is  that  she  declined  to  marry  Arran 
because  by  the  death  of  Francis  she  was  delivered  from 
fear  of  a  French  alliance  against  her.  As  matter  of  fact, 
however,  when  Elizabeth  handed  in  her  declinature,  the 
last  news  that  had  reached  her  from  Throckmorton  was 
that  "  now  the  physicians  mistrust  no  danger  of  his  life  "  ;  ^ 
and  Throckmorton's  letter  announcing  his  death  she  did 
not  receive  until  December  13th,  as  she  was  penning  a 
letter  of  instructions  to  Throckmorton  on  the  supposition 
that  Francis  was  alive.^ 

That  what  was  in  reality  a  revolutionary  proposal  had 
been  made  to  Elizabeth  was  more  than  awkward  both 
for  Maitland  and  Lord  James,  even  although  neither  may 
have  had  any  real  desire  for  the  Arran  marriage  ;  but, 
before  he  left  London,  Maitland  did  his  best  to  remedy 
the  situation  by  writing  to  Cecil  a  proposal  that  Mary,  on 
agreeing  to  recognise  the  legitimacy  of  Elizabeth's  rights, 
should  be  acknowledged  as  next  heir.  Elizabeth's  "  doubt- 
ful "  answer  involved,  he  saw,  the  return  of  the  Scottish 
Queen,  though  he  promised  to  do  his  utmost  to  keep  the 
nation  in  touch  with  England,  as  indeed  was  imperative  for 

^  History,  cab.  ed.,  vi.  442.  '  History,  v..  95. 

3  For  Ser.,  iii.  No.  758.  *  Ibid.,  Nr.  796. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN 


H5 


his  own  as  well  as  his  country's  sake.^  Meanwhile  he  was 
much  concerned  as  to  how  the  change  would  affect  the 
relations  of  Scotland  with  France.  The  situation  there, 
he  understood  but  imperfectly  ;  and  the  announcement 
that  de  Noailles  was  on  his  way  to  propose  a  renewal  of 
the  French  alliance  gave  him  cause  for  special  anxiety. 
He  dared  not  rejoice,  as  others  were  already  rejoicing,  for 
he  thought  that  the  late  security  against  French  influence 
had  "  lulled  most  men  asleep."  He  thought  Mary  would 
be  bound  to  follow  her  uncles'  advice,  and  so  could  not 
forget  what  hitherto  had  been  done  contrary  to  her  pleasure  : 
he  "  feared  many  simple  men  should  be  caryd  away  with 
vayne  hope,  and  broght  abed  with  fayre  words."  If  Lord 
James,  whom  the  Protestants  proposed  to  send  to  "  grope 
her  mind,"  could  persuade  her  to  trust  her  own  subjects 
he  would  take  courage  ;  if  not,  he  saw  the  perell  " — of 
French  annexation — "large,  greater  than  ever  it  was  "  ;  ^ 
and  of  course  that  would  mean  also  his  own  ruin.  With 
more  definite  information  on  the  French  situation  he  was, 
however,  by  February  26th,  disposed  to  take  a  more  hopeful 
view,  and  he  evidently  included  himself  among  those  who 
favoured  her  return,  provided  she  neither  brought  force 
nor  counsel  of  strangers."^  But  much  of  course  at  the 
same  time  depended  on  Elizabeth's  attitude  ;  and  unless 
Mary  and  Elizabeth  should  come  to  some  working  arrange- 
ment he  knew  that  his  "  familiarity  with  England  "  would 
be  his  undoing.  But  being  mainly  a  politician  and  averse 
to  the  extreme  character  of  the  Scottish  Protestantism,  he 
had  no  cause,  provided  Mary  cherished  no  bad  intentions 

^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  511,  518;  Hardwicke  Papers,  i.  174;  and  especially, 
Spanish  State  Papers,  1558-67,  p.  306. 

^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  510.  s  Ibid.^  i.  516. 

VOL.  I.  10 


146  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


towards  him  personally,  to  be  so  despondent  about  the 
consequences  of  her  return  as  was  Knox.  On  the  contrary 
he  felt,  as  an  unmatched  diplomatist,  a  peculiar  profes- 
sional interest  in  the  political  problem,  the  character  of 
which  was  being  gradually  unfolded  to  him  ;  and,  could 
he  secure  the  trust  of  his  sovereign,  he  did  not  despair 
of  a  solution  of  it  which  would  be  of  the  highest  benefit 
to  both  countries. 

The  attitude  of  Lord  James  Stewart  towards  his  sister's 
return  differed  considerably  both  from  that  of  Knox  and 
that  of  Maitland.  Though  a  "  precise  Protestant,"  like 
Knox,  his  high  worldly  interests,  on  which  he  plainly  set 
some  store,  might  be  greatly  affected  by  the  policy  he 
might  adopt  ;  and,  while  the  ambitious  hopes  of  Maitland 
could  not  range  so  high  as  those  of  Lord  James,  the  latter's 
range  of  action  was  more  strictly  limited  by  his  Protestant 
convictions.  As  the  half-brother,  though  by  left-handed 
descent,  of  the  nominal  Queen  of  Scots,  Lord  James  was 
deemed  by  many  a  far  from  ineligible  successor  to  her. 
Undoubtedly,  could  Knox  have  brought  it  about,  this 
semi-royal  personage,  who  was  so  much  after  his  own  heart, 
would  have  been  chosen  king,  even  long  before  the  death 
of  Francis  II.  Indeed  Knox  had  even  cherished  a  hope 
that  Elizabeth  might  be  induced  to  marry  him,  for  he 
desired  that  Arran  might  be  sent  and  secretly  kept  in 
England  "  till  wise  men  considered  what  was  in  him,  if 
misliked  the  Prior  of  St.  Andrews  second  "  :  ^  and  in  a 
memorial  for  the  Queen  "  it  is  suggested  by  the  Council 
to  explore  the  very  truth,  whether  the  Lord  James 
enterprises  towards  the  crown  for  himself  or  no,  and  if  he 
do,  and  the  Duke  be  cold  in  his  own  cause,  it  may  not 
^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  236. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN 


147 


be  amiss  to  let  Lord  James  follow  his  own  device,  without 
interference."  ^ 

Since  Chatelherault  was  induced  for  "  his  own  cause  " 
to  join  the  Reformers,  the  chance  of  Lord  James  had 
meanwhile  to  be  at  least  postponed  ;  but  even  as  late  as 
June  19th  Cecil  refers  to  him  as  "not  unlyke  either  in 
person  or  qualities  to  be  a  king  soon."  Once  the  Estates 
had  voted  for  the  Arran  marriage.  Lord  James  had  no 
other  option  than  to  show  himself  "  mervilous  erneste  '* 
for  it ;  but  the  fevered  Duke  and  Arran  suspected  that 
his  designs  were  hostile,  though  Randolph  beheved  that 
"  there  was  no  man  wy linger  "  it  should  come  to  pass 
than  he.  Yet  he  took  no  conspicuous  part  in  pressing  the 
proposal  on  Elizabeth.  In  his  letters  to  Cecil — who  did 
not  favour  the  proposal — he  makes  no  reference  to  it  of 
any  kind,  and  while  asking  him  to  credit  Maitland  as 
himself  in  all  cases,  he  expresses,  in  merely  general  terms, 
his  confidence  in  Cecil's  devotion  to  the  common  cause. 

To  suppose  that  the  Lord  James  was  really  anxious  for 
the  Elizabeth-Arran  marriage  would  be  to  credit  him  with 
both  an  unnatural  disinterestedness,  and  a  meekness  quite 
alien  to  his  latent  force  of  character.  The  desperate  figure 
all  along  cut  by  the  Duke  in  Scottish  politics  must  have 
awakened  his  amused  contempt  ;  his  estimate  of  Arran's 
fitness,  notwithstanding  his  bravery  as  a  soldier  and  his 
persuadedness  in  rehgion,  to  supplant  himself  as  the  possible 
sovereign  of  Scotland,  could  not  have  been  high  ;  and 
the  unconcealed  eagerness  of  both  father  and  son  to  get 
hold  of  the  Scottish  crown,  could  hardly  have  evoked  his 
sympathy.  Apart  from  the  question  of  religion,  we  must 
also  credit  Lord  James  with  kindly  feelings  towards  his 
*  Scottish  Papers,  241. 


148 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


sister,  of  whose  childhood  he  must  have  had  none  but 
pleasant  memories  ;  and  he  was  well  aware  that  for  her 
late  attitude  towards  himself  and  Scotland,  others,  rather 
than  she  herself,  were  responsible. 

When  he  learnt  of  the  death  of  Francis  II.,  Lord  James, 
as  was  customary  with  him,  seemed  to  place  himself 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  others,  and  at  the  disposal  of  his 
country.  We  have  no  evidence  that,  at  first,  he  uttered 
any  distinct  wish,  or  opinion,  or  hope,  or  fear  of  his 
own  ;  but  he  seems  to  have  immediately  discerned,  as  had 
Maitland,  that  her  return  was  well-nigh  inevitable.  The 
illstarred  Arran  marriage-proposal,  followed  by  Elizabeth's 
rejection  of  it,  had  necessarily  turned  the  thoughts  of 
the  majority  of  the  Scots  towards  the  daughter  of  the 
royal  house  who  was  their  sovereign  de  jure^  or,  as  Maitland 
put  it,  made  ''many  enter  in  new  discourses."^  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Arran  proposal  caused  Mary  to  entertain 
a  more  favourable  opinion  of  Lord  James  than,  perhaps, 
she  might  otherwise  have  done.  It  was  to  his  credit  that 
he  had  made  no  attempt  to  snatch  supreme  authority 
for  himself,  and  she  had  discernment  enough  to  see  that 
he  was  not  responsible  for  the  proposal.  As  early,  there- 
fore, as  December  31st,  Throckmorton  was  able  to  report 
that  "  she  holds  herself  sure  of  the  Lord  James,  and  of 
all  the  Stewarts.  She  mistrusts  none  but  the  Duke  of 
Chatelherault  and  his  party."  - 

By  the  Convention  of  January-February,  1 560-1,  it 
was  decided  that  Lord  James  should  make  the  experiment 
of  a  visit  to  Mary  ;  but  no  definite  instructions  were  given 
him — except  by  the  irrepressible  Knox.  According  to 
Knox's  own  account,  Knox  "  plainlie  premonisshed "  him 
*  Scottish  Papers^  i.  506.  ^  For.  Ser.,  iii.  No.  833  (5). 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN 


149 


that  yf  ever  he  condiscended  that  sche  should  have 
Messe  publictlie  or  privatlie  within  the  Realme  of  Scotland, 
that  then  betrayed  he  the  caus  of  God,  and  exponed  the 
religioun  evin  to  the  uttermoist  danger  that  he  could  do." 
To  this  Lord  James  replied  that  he  would  never  consent 
that  she  should  have  Mass  publicly  ;  but,  his  Protestant 
zeal  being  tempered  by  some  worldly  discretion,  he  added 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  prevent  her  having  Mass 
in  her  own  chamber/ 

According  to  Maitland  the  somme  "  of  the  legation 
of  Lord  James  v/as  to  know  his  sister's  mind,  and  whether 
she  would  repose  confidence  in  her  subjects  or  not  ;  and 
he  was  of  opinion  that  for  this  Lord  James  was  meetest 
in  many  respects,  being  "  zelous  in  rehgion,  and  one  of  the 
precise  Protestantes,  knowen  to  be  trew  and  constant, 
honest  and  not  able  to  be  corrupted,  besides  that  nature 
must  move  her  hyghnes  to  beare  him  some  good  will, 
and  it  is  lyke  that  she  will  rather  trust  him  than  any 
other."  ^ 

Meanwhile,  Mary  herself  was  doubtless  as  perplexed 
about  Scotland  as  the  Scottish  Protestants  were  perplexed 
about  her  ;  and  she,  or  her  advisers,  felt  that  immediate 
interference  with  the  crisis  was  imperative,  whether  she 
designed  immediately  to  return  to  Scotland  or  not.  Some- 
time, therefore,  before  the  expiry  of  her  period  of  seclusion, 
on  January  15th,  she  had  been  making  arrangements  for 
sending  to  Scotland  a  Special  Commission  of  four  Scots- 
men. Its  original  purpose,  according  to  Throckmorton, 
writing  on  January  i8th,  was  to  "labour  the  Estates" 
to  remove  the  clause  in  her  late  covenant  of  marriage  by 
which  she  could  again  marry  only  with  their  consent,  and 
^  Knox,  JVorks,  ii.  142-3.  2  Scottish  Papers,  i.  510^ 


ISO 


MARY  QUEEN   OF  SCOTS 


to  suspend  further  proceedings  in  matters  of  religion."^ 
A  Convention  of  Estates,  be  it  remembered,  was  then 
busy  taking  order  for  "  establishing  religion "  [that  is, 
Protestantism]  "  universally  " — something  more  vehement,'* 
wrote  Maitland  to  Cecil,  than  I,  for  my  opinion,  at 
ane  other  tyme  wold  have  allowed."  - 

On  January  22nd,  Throckmorton,  however,  reported 
to  Cecil  that  Mary  had  changed  her  determination  in 
treating  with  her  subjects  concerning  her  marriage  and 
the  state  of  religion  in  her  realm,^  and  next  day  he  ex- 
plained to  Elizabeth  that  she  had  changed  her  mind,  "  upon 
occasion  of  letters  out  of  Scotland."  ^  Although  Throck- 
morton clearly  implies  that  Mary's  change  of  mind 
happened  after  he  wrote  his  letter  of  the  i8th.  Dr.  Hay 
Fleming — by  an  unaccountable  slip — accepts  Throckmorton's 
statements  of  the  22nd  and  23rd,  as  explaining  why  Mary's 
mstructions  to  the  deputies,  dated  as  early  as  January  12th, 
contain  no  reference  to  the  second  marriage."  ^  Throck- 
morton must  somehow  have  been  misinformed,  and  the 
most  likely  supposition  is  that  he  was  mistaken  in  his 
earlier  information  ;  indeed  much  of  his  information  was 
necessarily  unreliable — he  was  clever  and  indefatigable,  but 
not  quite  infallible. 

In  his  letter  of  the  23rd  he  further  informed  Elizabeth 
that  Mary  had  written  "  severally  and  kindly  to  them  all, 
and  amongst  the  rest  to  Lethington,  Balnaves,  and  Grange, 
promising  oblivion  of  things  past."  This  again  was  prob- 
ably only  half  correct,  for  Mary's  letter  to  Maitland  is 
dated  the  25th  ;  but  that  her  Commissioners  carried  private 

*  For.  Ser.,  iii.  No.  889.  '  Scottish  Papers,  i.  509. 

'  For.,  Scr.  iii.  No.  915.  *  Ibid.,  No.  919. 

^  Maiy  Qtiee7i  of  Scots,  p.  227. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  151 


letters  to  many  noblemen  and  gentlemen  is  corroborated 
by  a  reference  of  Maitland,  to  Cecil,  February  26th,  to  the 
"  sede  of  sedition  "  in  the  private  letters/  and  by  the  report 
of  Randolph,  that  they  brought  well  nere  "  three  hundred 
letters  "  with  credit  as  theie  lyste  to  frame  yt,"  etc. 

The  truth  was  that  Mary  was  manifesting  in  her  public 
communications — and  doubtless  still  more  in  her  private 
ones — a  discretion,  and  something  more,  so  great  and  so 
unexpected  as  quite  to  baffle  and  bewilder  the  extreme 
Protestants  and  to  cause  deep  disappointment  and  chagrin 
to  Elizabeth. 

The  most  important  points  in  Mary's  public  com- 
munications, sent  primarily  to  the  chief  representatives  of 
the  different  parties — the  Duke,  the  Archbishop  of  St. 
Andrews,  Huntly,  Atholl,  Argyll,  Bothwell,  and  Lord 
James — were  that  before  the  King's  death  she  had  been 
striving  with  him  for  their  reconciliation  to  him  ;  that  she 
wished  to  bury  all  offences  in  oblivion  ;  that  she  hoped 
for  a  renewal  of  the  league  with  France,  in  regard  to  which 
M.  Noailles  had  been  sent  ambassador  ;  that  she  desired  a 
deputation  of  the  Estates  to  be  sent  to  inform  her  of  their 
deliberations  ;  and  that  she  intended  to  return  to  Scotland 
as  soon  as  she  had  settled  her  affairs. 

The  only  thing  in  Mary's  message  likely  to  cause 
anxiety  was  the  proposal  for  the  renewal  of  the  French 
league.  That  head,  Maitland  described  as  difficil,'* 
and  he  affirmed  that,  if  it  took  place,  there  would 
ensue  with  time  that  which  neither  Scotland  nor  England 
would  like.^  Happily  the  French  league,  on  account  of 
the  changed  circumstances  of  Mary,  soon  became  a  vain 
dream.  When  she  wrote,  her  marriage  to  Charles  IX.  was 
»  Scottish  Papers,  i.  517.  ^  /^/^^  j  ^j^^ 


152  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


not  deemed  an  utter  impossibility,  though  events  were 
rapidly  dissolving  her  former  interest  in  the  fortunes  of 
France.  By  the  time  the  Scottish  Parliament  met  in  May, 
communications  from  Lord  James,  then  in  France,  had 
greatly  lessened  Scottish  anxiety  as  to  French  intentions. 
If  Knox's  account  of  the  answer  given  to  the  French 
ambassador  ^  be  accepted,  the  proposal  was  rejected  in  terms 
wantonly  insulting  ;  but  the  letter  of  the  Scottish  Council 
to  Charles  IX.,  shows  that  the  Estates  were  not  so  lacking 
in  diplomatic  amenity  as  Knox  would  represent.  The 
proposal  was  rather  evaded  than  directly  rejected,  the 
Council  thanking  him  for  his  letters  as  to  the  renewal  of 
the  old  friendship  between  the  realms,  for  which  they  will 
not  be  ungrateful,  consistent  with  their  duty  to  their 
sovereign."  ^ 

Immediately  after  the  expiry  of  her  period  of  seclu- 
sion, which  had  been  spent  in  the  sole  company  of  her 
grandmother,  Antoinette  de  Bourbon,^  Mary  went  with 
her  grandmother  to  a  private  chateau  about  seven  miles 
from  Orleans.  When,  however,  the  court  left  for 
Fontainebleau,  she  accompanied  it,  though  solely  to  have 
an  interview  with  the  English  Commissioner,  Bedford.  On 
account  of  Throckmorton's  illness,  Bedford's  visit  was 
delayed  until  the  i6th,  when  both  arrived  together,  and  had 
interviews  the  same  day  with  the  King  and  Catherine  de 
Medici,  who,  on  their  stating  that  they  had  also  a  message 
to  the  Scottish  Queen,  directed  the  Duke  of  Guise  to  con- 
duct them  to  Mary  in  her  own  apartment,  where  he  found 
her  in  the  company  of  the  Bishop  of  Amiens,  divers 
other  French  bishops,  and  many  ladies  and  gentlemen. 
To  their  condolences  she  replied  in  specially  friendly 
^  Works,  ii.  i66.      ^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  534.       ^  De  Ruble,  p.  210. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  153 


terms,  stating  that  "  Considering  that  the  Queen  now 
showed  her  the  part  of  a  good  sister,  whereof  she  was  in 
great  need,  she  will  endeavour  to  be  even  with  her  in  good- 
will." On  their  mentioning  that,  at  a  more  convenient  time, 
they  had  something  else  to  say  to  her,  she  prayed  them  to 
advertise  the  Duke  of  Guise  when  they  desired  to  repair 
to  her — a  significant  indication  of  the  footing  on  which  she 
stood  with  Catherine  de  Medici. 

The  long  detailed  account  by  Bedford  and  Throckmorton 
of  their  various  interviews  with  Catherine,  the  King  of 
Navarre,  and  the  Queen  of  Scots  is  full  of  interest,  though 
their  diplomacy  was  plainly  hampered  by  their  imperfect 
knowledge  of  the  French  political  situation.  Elizabeth's 
main  aim,  in  relation  to  Scotland,  was  to  obtain  from 
France  and  Mary  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  Edinburgh, 
and  specially  of  the  clause  acknowledging  her  title  to  the 
English  crown  ;  but  Throckmorton  had  failed  to  discern 
how  distinct  were  becoming  the  interests  of  Mary  from 
those  of  France.  Not  only  had  the  King  of  France  no 
power  now  to  ratify  a  treaty  which  primarily  concerned 
Scotland,  but  his  ratification  of  it,  in  the  changed  relations 
between  France  and  Mary,  was  really  not  a  matter  about 
which  Elizabeth  needed  to  concern  herself. 

As  for  Mary,  if  the  attitude  she  took  up  was  evasive, 
this  was  not  unjustified  by  the  peculiarities  of  her  changed 
circumstances.  She  replied  that  she  could  not  ratify  the 
treaty  until  she  had  the  advice  of  her  nobles  ;  but  she  took 
care  to  assure  the  English  ambassador  that  she  was  not 
averse  to  the  ratification,  and  was  not  desirous  to  shift  the 
matter  :  "  For  if  her  Council  were  here  she  would  give  such 
an  answer  as  would  satisfy  him."  She  further  wished  that 
she  and  Elizabeth      might  speak  together,  and  then  she 


154 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


trusts  that  they  would  satisfy  each  other  much  better  than 
they  can  do  by  messages  and  ministers." 

If  Mary  was  to  acknowledge  Elizabeth's  title  to  the 
English  throne,  it  was  only  fair  that  Elizabeth  should  take 
measures  for  annulling  the  offensive  arrangement  of  the 
baffled  Henry  VIII.,  which  debarred  Mary,  now  next  heir 
by  descent,  from  the  English  succession.  Whether  there 
was  danger  to  Elizabeth  in  doing  so  was  another  matter. 
Much  depended  on  the  characteristics  of  the  two  ladies  ; 
but,  without  the  mutual  arrangement,  it  was  certain  that 
Mary  could  never  cease  to  plot  against  Elizabeth,  while 
there  was  at  least  the  possibility  that  concessions  which 
would  be  mutually  gratifying  might  issue  in  permanent 
cordiality. 

That  Mary  became  sanguine  of  effecting  an  under- 
standing may  be  inferred  from  letters  of  the  Papal  Nuncio 
shordy  after  Mary  left  for  Scotland.  On  August  2ist 
he  wrote  that  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  gave  him  hopes 
that  Mary  and  the  Queen  of  England  wiU  henceforth 
maintain  concord  and  union,"  and  that  he  had  heard  that 
the  Queen  of  Scotland  cedes  to  the  Queen  of  England 
her  rights  to  that  kingdom,  and  that  the  Queen  of  England 
declares  the  Queen  of  Scotland  her  heir  if  she  dies  without 
children  "  ;  and  on  the  30th  he  intimated,  on  the  authority 
of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  that  the  affair  was  "  a  settled  thing, 
though  not  finally  sanctioned."  ^ 

Behind  all  this  there  was  of  course  the  question  of 
religion  ;  but  while  the  Protestants  hoped  for  Mary's 
conversion,  the  Catholics  had  not  yet  given  up  hope  of 
Elizabeth's  return  to  the  old  faith ;  indeed  the  idea  in 
France  then  was,  that  she  was  '*not  resolved  of  what  religion  " 

^  Papal  Negotiations,  ed.  Pollen,  pp.  62-3. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  155 


she  should  be."  In  any  case,  throughout  the  protracted 
negotiations  that  were  to  follow  between  the  two  queens, 
Mary  always  seemed  to  have  the  diplomatic  advantage, 
little  good  though  it  did  her  ;  and  Elizabeth,  though 
politically  she  triumphed  over  Mary,  always  had  the  appear- 
ance of  being  in  the  wrong,  and  never  more  so  than  when 
she  succeeded  finally  in  ridding  herself  of  her  rival  for  ever. 

With  this  question  of  mutual  recognition  the  question 
of  Mary's  marriage  had  of  course  an  intimate  connection, 
and  it  was  already  a  subject  of  keen  interest  to  Elizabeth. 
In  answer  to  Throckmorton's  enquiries,  the  Protestant 
King  of  Navarre  expressed  his  opinion  that  the  favoured 
suitor  was  the  Archduke.  He  promised  to  do  his  best 
to  hinder  it  ;  but  he  added,  "  I  told  you,  M.  TAmbassador, 
a  remedy  against  this  mischief,  whereunto  you  make  me 
none  answer  :  you  know  what  I  mean."^  Dr.  Hay  Fleming^ 
supposes  that  the  King  may  have  referred  to  a  suit  of 
his  own  for  Mary's  hand  ;  but  even  if  we  could  suppose 
him  capable  of  alluding  in  such  familiar  fashion  to  his 
own  chances,  or  that  Throckmorton  in  such  a  case  would 
have  made  him  no  answer,  the  remedy  most  within  the 
power  of  Elizabeth  was  to  marry  the  Archduke,  as  Cecil 
earnestly  desired  she  should. 

Mary,  whose  stay  at  the  court  had  been  prolonged 
by  Bedford's  visit,  left  it  for  Rheims  about  March  i8th, 
her  journey  being  broken  at  Paris  on  the  20th,  that  she 
might  inspect  "her  robes  and  jewels."^  At  Rheims,  where 
she  arrived  on  the  26th,  she  was  privileged  to  be  present 
at  the  first  properly  appointed  family  council,  since  the 
change  in  the  family's  fortunes  and  outlook  by  the  death 

^  For.  Ser.,  iii.  No.  1030  (23).  '  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  232. 

'  For.  Ser.,  iv.  No.  77  (i). 


156  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


of  her  husband,  there  being  present  the  Cardinals  of 
Lorraine  and  Guise,  the  Duke  d'Aumale,  the  Marquis 
d'Elboeuf,  and  her  grandmother  the  old  Duchess  of  Guise.^ 
Perhaps  no  family  council  had  ever  more  important  or 
critical  matters  to  discuss — their  future  position  and  policy 
in  France,  the  marriage  of  their  niece,  the  problem  of 
her  return  to  Scotland,  her  future  relations  with  Elizabeth, 
and  the  answers  to  be  given  to  the  rival  Scottish  deputies, 
Leslie  and  Lord  James,  whose  coming  v/as  expected  shortly. 

While  on  her  way  to  her  grandmother  at  Joinville, 
Mary  was  met  at  Vitry  on  the  14th  by  John  Leslie, 
then  parson  of  Oyne,  Aberdeenshire,  and  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Ross,  commissioned  by  Huntly  and  other  Catholics  of 
the  north  to  invite  her  to  return  to  Edinburgh  by  Aberdeen, 
where  they  promised  to  have  ready  for  her  a  force  of  twenty 
thousand  Catholics,  to  enable  her  to  mount  the  throne  of 
Scotland  as  a  Catholic  sovereign."  Though  the  fortunes 
of  Leslie  and  Mary  were  afterwards  to  be  very  closely 
linked,  she  at  present  declined  to  commit  her  future  in 
Scotland  to  Catholic  keeping  ;  but  she  invited  Leslie  to 
remain,  meanwhile,  in  attendance  on  her.  One  sufficient 
objection  to  Leslie's  proposal  was  that  it  would  place  her 
at  the  mercy  of  Huntly,  who  had  betrayed  her  mother, 
and  whom  Randolph  described  as  ''him,  of  whom  man 
never  was  at  any  time  assured  "  ;  and  at  any  rate  the 
scheme  of  Leslie  was  premature  until  the  Spanish  marriage 
question  was  decided. 

Next  day  Mary  was  overtaken  at  St.  Dizier  by  the 
emissary  of  the  Protestants,  her  half-brother  and  her  friend 
of  old  days.  Lord  James  Stewart,  whose  political  career, 
since  last  she  saw  him,  seemed  to  hav^e  raised  an  almost 
^  For.  Se7'.,  No.  77  (9).  ^  Leslie,  Dc  Origine,  p.  575. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  157 


insuperable  barrier  against  her  confidence  and  affection. 
The  meeting  must  have  been  painful  and  agitating  to  both, 
but  it  was  sufficiently  satisfactory  to  Lord  James  from  an 
inquisitive  point  of  view.  It  is  hardly  likely,  either,  that 
on  the  one  hand,  as  current  rumour  surmised^  and  Leslie 
asserts.  Lord  James  made  overtures  for  a  grant  to  him  of 
the  earldom  of  Moray ,^  or  that,  as  Throckmorton  anticipated, 
she  made  him  an  offer  of  a  cardinal's  hat,^  for  Lord  James 
made  no  mention  of  this  to  Throckmorton  ;  but  we  must 
suppose  that,  in  some  way,  she  remonstrated  with  him  as 
to  his  Protestantism. 

Nor,  apparently,  did  Mary  whisper  to  Lord  James  a 
syllable  about  the  Spanish  negotiations,  of  the  forwardness 
of  which  Throckmorton  was  at  this  time  advertised  by  other 
means  ;  ^  but  Lord  James  had  seemingly  no  difficulty  in  dis- 
covering those  of  her  intentions  which  he  communicated  to 
Throckmorton.  The  more  important  points  were  (i)  that  in 
the  ratification  of  the  treaty  she  would  be  guided  by  the 
advice  of  her  Estates;  (2)  that  she  "was  not  glad  of  the 
kindness  between  England  and  Scotland,"  though  whether 
she  wished,  as  the  prejudiced  Throckmorton  supposed,  to 
"provide  that  there  should  be  no  traffic"  between  them  is 
another  matter  ;  (3)  that  she  would  endeavour  to  gain  the 
consent  of  the  Estates  to  her  marriage  to  a  foreign  prince  ; 
and  (4)  that  she  was  as  careless  of  the  amity  of  France  as 
she  was  of  that  of  England. 

The  question  as  to  whether  Lord  James  in  revealing 
to  Throckmorton  and  Ehzabeth  the  nature  of  his  sister's 
communication  to  him,  betrayed  her,  turns  wholly  on  the 

1  Randolph  to  Throckmorton  MSS.  Add.  (B.M.),  35,830  f.  79. 
^  De  Origine,  p.  577.  ^  jp^y^  ^^^^^  ^5-)^ 

*  Ibid.^  iv.  151  (21). 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


question  of  his  intentions.  He  came  under  no  obligation 
not  to  reveal  what  she  told  him,  and  she  did  not  make 
of  him  a  special  confidant.  If,  however,  while  pretending 
to  desire  her  return  on  condition  that  she  agreed  to  the 
toleration  of  Protestantism,  he  at  the  same  time  did  what 
he  could  to  induce  Elizabeth  to  prevent  her  return,  then, 
if  he  had  perfect  confidence  in  her  sincerity,  he  betrayed 
her.  But  the  aim  both  of  Lord  James  and  Maitland  seems 
to  have  been  to  induce  Elizabeth  to  adopt  a  conciliatory 
attitude :  their  difficulty  was  that  Elizabeth  would  not  do 
so,  and  unless  she  did  so,  they  had  good  reason  to  fear 
danger  to  the  best  welfare  of  Scotland,  as  well  as  to 
themselves,  through  Mary's  return. 

But,  for  a  time.  Lord  James  was  impressed  with  the 
conviction  that  Mary  was  but  partially  revealing  her  real 
intentions  ;  and  he  was  perfectly  right  in  supposing,  when 
she  would  not  allow  him  to  accompany  her  to  Nancy, 
that  there  was  something  there  in  hand  that  she  would 
be  loath  he  should  be  privy  to."  The  something,  we 
must  suppose,  was  the  Spanish  negotiations,  which  she 
probably  fondly  hoped  might  then  be  concluded. 

Mr.  Lang,  led  astray  by  M.  Philippson — who  boldly 
asserts  that  Lord  James  did  accompany  Mary  to  Nancy, 
and  regards  it  as  "  prouve  par  une  lettre  de  Marie  Stuart  a 
Throgmorton,  datee  de  *  Nancy  ce  22  avril  1561,'  et  dans 
laquelle  elle  dit :  '  Quant  a  Lord  James,  qui  est  devers  moi '  ^ 
— has  presented  Scottish  students  with  a  new  historical  puzzle, 
which  he  supposes  deeply  concerns  the  reputation  either 
of  Lord  James  or  Mary. 

Why,"  asks  Mr.  Lang,     did  Mary  say  he  was  with 
her,  if  he  was  not.'^    Why,  if  he  was  with  her  at  Nancy, 
^  Mane  Stuart^  i.  296. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN 


did  Lord  James  deny  the  fact  to  Throckmorton,  and 
throw  suspicion  on  his  sister  ?  It  is  on  questions  like 
this  that  we  expect  light  from  the  minute  researches  of 
Dr.  Hay  Fleming."^ 

But  the  light  that  Mr.  Lang  seems  to  despair  of  obtain- 
ing was  easily  accessible  to  him.  Writing  to  Cecil  on 
April  23rd,  Throckmorton  actually  makes  mention  of  the 
arrival  that  day  of  Lord  James  at  Paris,^  so  that  the 
surmise  that  Lord  James  may  have  been  lying,  and  lying 
for  purposes  entirely  base,  becomes  untenable.  M. 
Philippson  supposes  that  Lord  James  arrived  on  the  29th  ; 
but  Throckmorton  had  his  interview  with  Lord  James  not 
on  the  day  he  wrote,  but,  as  the  letter  shows,  on  the  24th. 
So  much  for  Lord  James.  As  for  Mary,  since  she  must 
have  known  that  Lord  James  would  be  in  Paris  and  probably 
in  Throckmorton's  company  by  the  time  she  was  penning 
her  letter,  we  cannot  suppose  that  she  intended  to  practise 
deceit  on  Throckmorton.  Her  letter  was  in  reply  to 
one  of  Throckmorton's,  who  had  apparently  hinted  that 
by  the  arrival  of  Lord  James  she  would  obtain  the  counsel 
necessary  to  enable  her  to  decide  as  to  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty.  To  this  Mary  answered,  "  Quant  a  Lord  James,  qui 
est  devers  moy  "  [as  Throckmorton  had  stated],  "  il  y  est 
venue  pour  son  devoir,  comme  devers  sa  souveraine  Dame, 
que  je  sois,  sans  charge  ou  commission  qui  concerne  autre 
chose  que  son  droit."  ^  The  intention  of  Mary  was  not  to 
convey  to  Throckmorton  the  information  that  Lord  James 
was  then  actually  with  her  at  Nancy,  but  that  his  visit 
to  her  in  France  was  not  of  an  official  character.  Thus, 
instead  of  a  puzzling  mystery  or  a  delightful   case  of 


^  History,  ii.  103.  ^  For.  Ser.,  iv.  No.  133. 

3  Labanoff,  i.  94. 


i6o  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


deliberate  fabrication,  all  that  Mr  Lang  has  supplied  us 
with  is  a  disappointing  mare's  nest. 

Lord  James  did  not  leave  Paris  until  May  4th,  being 
detained  by  the  expectation  of  letters  from  Mary  with 
a  Commission  under  her  seal  to  have  charge  of  the  govern- 
ment until  her  return  to  Scotland.  He  received  letters,  the 
purport  of  which  he  did  not  tell  Throckmorton,  but  no 
Commission.  Mary  may  have  been  merely  detaining  h:m 
until  she  had  definite  news  as  to  the  Spanish  marriage 
negotiations.  Had  they  terminated  favourably,  she  might 
have  desired  another  interview  with  him  ;  but  the  evil 
tidings  awaiting  her  at  Nancy  made  it  needless  to  detain 
him  longer. 

After  doing  his  utmost  to  satisfy  Elizabeth's  curiosity 
as  to  Mary's  marriage  prospects,  Throckmorton  was  able 
to  report,  as  late  as  June  23rd,  that  he  had  learned  from 
a  great  person  at  court — the  King  of  Navarre,  most  likely 
— that  "  the  King  of  Spain  has  said  that  he  would  be 
loath  to  marry  his  son  to  a  process,  but  that  if  her 
matters  were  clear,  he  knew  no  party  that  he  v/ould  more 
gladly  match  his  son  with "  ^  ;  and  it  may  well  have  been 
in  some  such  terms  as  these  that  the  King,  towards  the 
end  of  April,  made  known  his  decision  to  the  Cardinal 
of  Lorraine. 

By  May  9th  Throckmorton  learned  that  Mary 
was  sick  of  an  ague  at  Nancy  ;  but  the  illness  may 
have  had  connection  with  the  shock  caused  by  the 
termination  of  the  marriage  negotiations.  Throckmorton 
supposed  she  might  be  feigning  sickness,  to  avoid  the 
answer  for  the  ratification,"  which  he  wished  to  obtain 
from  her  at  Rheims,  where  the  French  king  was  to  be 
^  For,  Ser.f  iv.  No.  265  (6). 


After  an  engravitig  by  T/ios.  De  Lett. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS, 
In  widow's  dress,  as  Queen  of  France. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  i6i 


crowned  on  the  15th/  But,  sick  or  well,  Mary  had 
more  serious  things  to  think  of  than  her  answer  to 
Throckmorton :  that,  suffering  from  such  an  overwhelming 
disappointment — for  which  she  had  mainly  to  thank 
Catherine  de  Medici — she  could  imperturbably  appear  at  a 
great  public  ceremony,  was  hardly  to  be  expected  in  the 
case  of  one  so  sensitive  and  passionate.  She  therefore 
did  not  journey  beyond  her  grandmother's  chateau  of 
Joinville,  where  it  was  reported  she  admitted  no  man 
(especially  of  her  own  nation)  to  her  speech,  saving 
physicians."  ^  She  remained  at  Joinville  until  after  the 
departure  of  the  court  from  Rheims,  but  had  reached 
Rheims  by  May  2  8th.^ 

The  Spanish  negotiations  being  meanwhile  at  an  end, 
Mary  made  up  her  mind  to  return  to  Scotland  as  soon 
as  she  conveniently  could  ;  and  with  the  view  of  com- 
pleting her  arrangements  for  this,  she  arrived  on  June 
lOth  at  Paris,  joining  the  French  court  at  the  Louvre, 
where  she  was  welcomed  with  the  ceremony  due  to  her 
rank  as  a  sovereign.^  On  the  touching,  yet  charming, 
appearance  of  the  fair  and  pale  young  widow  "  en  ses 
habits  de  son  grand  deuil  blanc,"  Brantome  enlarges  in 
his  superlatively  sentimental  fashion  ;  ^  and  he  affirms  that 
the  young  King  was  so  enraptured  with  her  beauty,  as 
greatly  to  increase  the  anxiety  of  Catherine  for  her  speedy 
departure. 

At  the  Louvre,  Throckmorton,  on  June  i8th,  had  his 
long-deferred  interview  with  Mary,  whom  he  found  quite 
ready,  as  she  had  always  been,  with  her  answer  about 

1  For.  Ser.,  iv.  No.  189,  198.  2  /^^-^^  208  (i)  ;  214(1). 

3  Labanof?,  i.  98.  For.  Ser.,  iv.  No.  265. 

*  CEuvres,  ed.  Buchon,  ii,  135. 
VOL.  I.  I  I 


l62 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


the  ratification  ;  she  would  not  say  yes  or  no  until  "  she 
had  the  advice  of  the  Estates "  ;  but  she  added  "  that 
she  meant  to  retire  all  the  French  out  of  Scotland,  so  that 
she  would  leave  nothing  undone  to  satisfy  all  parties."  ^ 
She  was  also  quite  frank  about  the  burning  question  of 
religion  :  She  was  none  of  those  who  would  change  her 
religion  every  year  ;  she  did  not  mean  to  constrain  any 
of  her  subjects,  but  trusted  they  would  have  no  support 
at  the  Queen's  hands  to  constrain  her."  ^  She  also  said 
that  she  was  sending  M.  d'Oysell  to  Elizabeth  to  declare 
what  she  trusted  would  satisfy  Elizabeth.  Throckmorton 
mistakenly  supposed  that  d'Oysell,  who  was  commissioned 
also  to  go  to  Scotland,  would,  besides  demanding  a  safe- 
conduct  for  Mary,  labour  by  all  possible  means  to  dissolve 
the  league  between  the  Scots  and  England,  and  to  tie 
them  to  the  French  "  ;  ^  and  apparently  Elizabeth  was  also 
possessed  with  this  idea.  Her  reply,  sent  by  d'Oysell — 
whom,  still  haunted,  it  would  appear,  by  her  dread  of 
a  French  aUiance,  she  would  not  permit  to  proceed  to 
Scotland — was  that  once  Mary  had  ratified  the  treaty, 
Elizabeth,  besides  granting  a  full  passport,  would  "  give 
order  for  a  friendly  meeting  for  corroboration  and  per- 
fection of  their  amity."* 

Mr.  Lang,  strange  to  say,  on  this  cardinal  matter 
sides  with  the  English  Queen.  Mary,"  he  says,  "  threw 
away  this  admirable  chance  of  settling  the  feud."  ^  But 
is  this  not  to  imply  that  Elizabeth  was  absolutely  in  the 
right,  and  Mary  entirely  in  the  wrong  ?  For  how  was  the 
feud  to  be  settled  ?    Would  Elizabeth  agree  to  recognise 

*  For.  Ser.,  iv.  265  (3).  »  Idid.,  265  (4). 

■  /did.,  280  (i).  *  Scottish  Papers,  i.  540. 

^  History,  ii.  98, 


IHE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  163 


Mary  as  next  in  succession  to  her,  or  could  Mary  reasonably 
be  satisfied  with  anything  less  than  this  ?  "  Many  a  time 
later,"  adds  Mr.  Lang,  "  was  she  [Mary]  to  pray  for  a 
meeting  that  was  never  granted."  But  what  was  the  value 
of  any  such  meeting  to  Mary,  unless  Elizabeth  recognised 
her  claim,  which  Elizabeth  never  intended  to  do  ?  While 
Mary  would  have  committed  herself  to  everything, 
Elizabeth  would  have  committed  herself  to  nothing.  This 
Mr.  Lang  not  only  discerns,  but  seems  to  approve  :  "  The 
day  she  acknowledged  Mary  as  heir  might,"  he  says,  "  be 
a  day  near  her  own  death  by  assassination."  But  has  he 
not  here  been  entrapped  by  a  too  deferential  regard  to 
Froude,  who  ^  supposes  that  Elizabeth  declined  to  acknow- 
ledge Mary  from  dread  of  immediate  assassination  ^  This 
possibility  was,  in  fact,  always  before  Elizabeth's  eyes  ; 
it  was  not  achieved  from  lack  of  conspiracies  ;  and 
whether  Elizabeth's  reasons  for  declining,  as  she  did,  to 
recognise  Mary  or  her  son,  or  any  one  else,  as  heir  to  her 
crown  were  good  or  bad,  or  private  or  public,  we  must 
absolve  her  from  being  actuated  in  this  by  any  motive  akin 
to  personal  cowardice. 

Mary's  policy  on  this  matter  was  bound  to  appeal 
strongly  to  the  patriotism  and  self-respect  of  the  majority 
of  the  Scots.  To  Elizabeth's  attempt  to  concuss  the  Estates 
to  deal  with  it  before  Mary's  arrival,  the  Council  replied 
courteously,  but  a  little  enigmatically  :  "  Your  Majestie 
may  be  weill  assured  that  in  us  salbe  noted  no  blame,  gif 
that  peace  be  nott  ratified  to  your  Majcsteis  contentment," 
etc.^  Maitland's  hint  to  Cecil,  on  learning  of  the  death 
of  Francis  IL,  was  also  meanwhile  giving  promise  of  bearing 
fruit.    As  early  as  July  14th,  Cecil  wrote  to  Throckmorton  : 

^  History,  cab.  ed.,  vi.  502.  ^  Knox,  Works ,  ii.  179. 


1 64  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


"  There  is  a  matter  secretly  thought  of,  which  he  will  dare 
communicate.  That  if  an  accord  can  be  made  between  her 
and  the  Scottish  Queen,  the  latter  should  surrender  to  her 
all  manner  of  claim,  and  to  her  heirs,  and  in  consideration 
thereof,  the  Scottish  Queen  shall  be  acknowledged  in 
default  of  heirs  of  the  English  Queen."  ^  Cecil  added  that 
Elizabeth  knew  of  this,  and  he  apparently  thought  the 
arrangement  feasible,  though  he  hoped  that  she  would 
herself  marry  and  have  a  son. 

Unless  Mary  had  some  hope  of  effecting  a  working 
arrangement  with  Elizabeth,  Maitland  saw  that  her  coming 
might  cause  wonderful  tragedies."  He  must  have  men- 
tioned his  scheme  to  Lord  James  ;  and  the  beginnings  of 
the  policy  thus  initiated  are  discernible  in  the  conciliatory 
letter  of  Lord  James,  of  June  lo,  to  his  sister,  which 
virtually  embodied  an  invitation  from  the  Protestant  Lords 
that  she  should  return  to  Scotland.^  Maitland's  letter  to 
her  of  the  same  date  has  not  been  recovered,  but  from  her 
reply  of  June  29th  we  gather  that  he  promised  to  employ 
himself  in  her  service  and  to  "  do  the  utmost  to  promote 
her  interest."  ^  Possibly  in  reply  to  the  letter  of  Mary,  who 
stated  that,  if  he  had  the  will,  he  had  the  knowledge  and 
skill  "  to  do  much  for  her,  and  that  she  wished  to  live  in 
"  amity  and  good  neighbourhood  with  the  Queen  of 
England,"  he  indicated  his  views  on  the  subject  of  an 
arrangement  with  Elizabeth,  for  before  she  left  for  France 
Mary's  friends  appear,  as  we  have  seen,  to  have  been  more 
than  sanguine  that  such  an  arrangement  would  be  effected. 
At  any  rate,  Lord  James  had,  before  Mary's  arrival  in 

^  For.  Ser.,  iv.  187  {note). 

^  Philippson's  Marie  Stuart^  vol.  iii.  Appendix. 

^  Tytler's  History,  iii.  (1862),  399. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  165 


Scotland,  broached  the  matter  in  his  usual  deprecatory 
fashion  to  Elizabeth. 

"  The  mater,"  wrote  Lord  James,  "  is  hyghar  then  my 
capacite  is  hable  to  compas,  yett,  upon  my  simple  ouver- 
ture,  your  hyghnes  can  lay  a  more  large  fundation.  What 
yff  your  Majesties  titill  did  remain  ontouched,  als  wele 
for  your  self  as  thissue  of  your  body  ?  Inconvenient  wer  it 
to  provyde  that  to  the  Quene  my  souveraine,  her  own 
place  were  reserved  in  the  succession  of  the  Crown  of 
England  ?  Which  your  Majestie  will  pardon  me,  if  I  take  to 
be  next,  by  the  law  of  all  nations,  as  she  that  is  next  in 
lawful  descent  of  the  ryght  lyne  of  King  Hendry  the 
sevint  your  grandfather."  ^ 

Being  convinced  that  it  was  only  by  some  such  arrange- 
ment, that  "wonderful  tragedies"  could  be  prevented,  it 
may  easily  be  conceived  with  what  consternation  Maitland 
would  contemplate  the  peremptory  and  even  hostile 
attitude  of  Elizabeth  towards  Mary.  Lord  James  took 
advantage  of  Mary's  agreement  to  recognise  the  statu  quo  in 
religion — or,  as  he  put  it,  "  the  declarateur  of  my  souerains 
mynd,"  to  proceed  to  the  putting  down  of  the  Mass 
"  throughout  all  partis  and  execution  to  pass  upon  con- 
tumaris  and  all  maynteynayris  conforme  to  ane  act  made 
in  the  last  parliament",^  and  on  August  loth  Maitland 
informed  Cecil  that  he  and  Lord  James  had  been  for 
forty  days  in  the  north  "  advancing  the  religion  and 
the  common  cause."  ^ 

Maitland's  hope  was  still  that  it  might  be  compassed 
that  '*  the  Queen's  Majesty  and  her  Highness  might  be  as 
near  friends  as  they  were  tender  cousins  "  ;  but  in  view 

1  Scottish  Papers,  i.  541.  2  MSS.  Add.  (B.M.),  35,830  f.  121. 

^  Keith,  iii.  211-16. 


i66  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


of  other  possibilities — on  account  of  Elizabeth's  attitude 
to  Mary — it  was  needful  to  take  every  precaution  ;  and 
he  further  suggested  that  instead  of  irritating  Mary  by 
insisting  on  the  ratification  of  the  league  with  England, 
Elizabeth's  purpose  might  be  better  served  by  including 
Scotland  with  England  in  a  general  Protestant  league. 

It  was  also  only  natural  that  Maitland  and  Lord  James 
should  agree  with  Cecil  that,  unless  Mary  and  Elizabeth 
were  on  more  cordial  terms  than  they  yet  were,  it  would 
be  well  that  Mary's  arrival  should  be  delayed  ;  but  they 
could  hardly  have  approved  of  the  policy  of  the  English 
Privy  Council  as  stated  to  Throckmorton :  "  The  longer 
the  Scottysshe  Quenes  afFayres  rest  vncertayne  the  better 
shall  the  Quenes  Majeste's  afFayres  prosper,  especially  as 
long  as  she  thus  forbearith  to  confirme  the  treatie.  And 
although  it  may  be  she  will  both  stay  the  ratification  and 
adventure  to  passe  by  seas  without  selveconduct  from 
hence  :  yet  coulde  we  not  think  it  good  counsell  to  offer 
suche  gentlenes  as  might  intice  hir  to  passe  thither.  On 
thother  part  if  she  shall  doo  that  she  is  bounde  to  doo 
in  ratefying  the  treaty,  we  shall  think  it  mete  to  advise 
our  soveraigne  lady,  as  she  is  disposed  of  herself,  to  answer 
her  with  all  courtesy."  ^ 

On  the  contrary,  Maitland  and  Lord  James  had  no 
desire  that  Mary  should  sign  the  treaty,  and  Maitland  was 
doing  his  utmost  to  impress  on  Cecil  the  advisability  of 
conciliating  Mary.  When  he  learned  that  Elizabeth  had 
declared  to  d'Oysell  that  she  "  would  provide  to  keep  her 
from  passing  home,"  ^  he  had  some  reason  to  suspect  that 
the  wonderful  tragedies  "  he  dreaded  might  be  near  at 
hand  ;  and  well  might  he  deem  his  own  wit  insufficient 

1  MSS.  Add.  (B.M.),  35,830  f.  146.       »  For,  Ser.,  iv.  No.  337  (5). 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN  167 


to  give  advice  in  so  dangerous  a  cast."  What  he  wished 
Elizabeth — with  whom  of  course  he  had  to  keep  on  good 
terms  as  well  as  with  Mary — to  recognise,  was  the  necessity 
of  saying  and  doing  "  yea  *'  or  nay."  He  much  preferred 
that,  in  accordance  with  his  early  hint  to  Cecil  about  the 
succession,  Elizabeth  should  say  and  do  "  yea "  ;  but  he 
was  by  no  means  certain  that  both  to  say  and  do  "  nay  " 
was  not  better  than  to  say  nay  "  and  virtually  do  yea," 
for  Mary  was  neither  to  be  stopped  nor  delayed,  as  the 
Council  seemed  to  hope,  by  mere  threats.  "  If  two 
galleys,"  he  wrote,  may  quietly  pass  "  [and  they  might  do 
so,  swift  as  they  were,  notwithstanding  any  attempts  of 
Elizabeth  to  prevent  them],  "  I  wish  the  passport  had  been 
liberally  granted.  To  what  purpose  should  you  open  your 
pack,  and  sell  none  of  your  wares,  or  declare  you  enemies 
to  those  whom  you  cannot  offend."  ^ 

There  is  some  evidence  of  an  actual  intention  of 
Elizabeth  to  stop  Mary  on  her  voyage,  or  at  least  to  prevent 
her  passing  through  any  part  of  England  ;  but  happily, 
much  perturbed  though  Elizabeth  was  by  the  prospects 
of  Mary's  arrival  in  Scotland,  her  vagaries  and  fickleness 
were  usually  in  the  end  conquered  by  her  strong  common 
sense.  When  contemptuously  defied  by  Mary,  she  began 
to  discern  the  folly  of  her  vapouring.  The  suggestive 
letters  of  Maitland  were  also,  so  far,  beginning  to  tell 
on  her  ;  and  the  recommendations  of  Throckmorton — who 
did  not  hesitate  to  express  to  Cecil  his  astonishment  at 
Elizabeth's  refusal  of  the  passport  ^ — must  also  have  had 
its  effect.    It  so  happened,  also,  that  on  August  8th  Mary 

^  Letter,  August  15th,  in  Tytler's  History^  ed.  1862,  vol.  iii.  p.  400. 
^  For.  Ser.^  iv.  No.  337  (2).    This  has  a  vital  bearing  on  the  attitude  of 
Lord  James,  who  had  been  in  close  consultation  with  Throckmorton. 


i68 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


thought  good  to  write  to  Elizabeth  a  conciliatory  letter — 
the  purport  of  which  can  be  gathered  only  from  Elizabeth's 
reply — which  she  sent  with  St.  Colme,  who  was  empowered 
to  explain  further  Mary's  attitude  to  the  treaty.^ 

Though  Elizabeth  expressed  dissatisfaction  with  St. 
Colme's  explanations,  the  letter  supplied  her  with  a  chance 
of  backing  out  of  her  awkward  position.  In  her  reply 
of  August  15th — of  which  only  the  draft  in  Cecil's  hand 
survives^ — she  therefore  declared  that  since  Mary  proposed 
to  be  guided  by  the  opinion  of  her  Council,  she  had  sus- 
pended her  *'  concept  of  all  unkindness."  With  the 
letter  she  even  sent  a  passport  ;  ^  but  before  Elizabeth 
wrote,  Mary  had  set  sail  for  Scotland.  The  threatened 
crisis  was,  however,  averted  ;  and  while  the  sequel  proved 
that  Mary  would  in  any  case  have  escaped  Elizabeth's  ships, 
the  letter  paved  the  way  for  the  reconciliation  policy  of 
Maitland,  which  for  a  time  was  to  "  hold  the  field." 

In  an  interview  with  Throckmorton,  July  21st,  Mary 
expressed  the  hope  "  that  the  wind  would  be  so  favourable 
that  she  would  not  need  to  touch  on  the  coast  of  England." 
Should  it  not,  however,  she  would  venture  to  place  herself 
in  Elizabeth's  hands  to  do  her  will  with  her  "  ;  and 
if,"  added  she,  with  mocking,  yet  serious  badinage,  "  she 
was  so  hard-hearted  as  to  desire  her  end,  she  might  then 
do  her  pleasure  and  make  sacrifice  of  her."  *  That  same 
evening,  Mary  proceeded  to  the  court  at  St.  Germains,  where 
a  grand  farewell  fete,  which  lasted  four  days,  was  held  in 
her  honour  ;^  and  on  the  25th,  attended  by  her  six  uncles 
and  other  friends,  she  set  out  towards  the  coast.  Writing 

*  Labanoff,  i.  99-102.  '  For  Ser.y  iv.  p.  250  {note). 

5  Scottish  Papers,  i.  545.  *  For  Ser.,  iv.  No.  455. 

*  De  Ruble,  pp.  242-4. 


THE  WIDOWED  QUEEN 


169 


on  July  26th,  Throckmorton  says,  She  has  sent  her  train 
straight  to  Havre  de  Grace,  and  herself  holdeth  such  a 
way  between  both,  as  she  will  be  at  her  choice  to  go  to 
Newhaven  [Havre-le-Grace]  or  to  Calice."  ^  Havre-le- 
Grace  was  the  most  suitable  port  for  the  western  route, 
by  which,  when  a  child,  she  had  sailed  for  France  :  if  she 
went  to  Calais,  her  intention  would  be  to  go  by  the  eastern 
route  to  Leith. 

Chantonnay  thought  that  Elizabeth's  design  in  keep- 
ing a  fleet  in  the  North  Sea,  as  she  was  known  to  be 
doing,  was  to  compel  Mary  to  choose  the  western  route 
towards  the  country  "  where  the  Earl  of  Arran  lies."  ^ 
Unless  she  had  no  other  choice,  it  was  inadvisable  that 
she  should  take  this  route  and  return,  as  she  had  set  out, 
by  Dumbarton  ;  and  notwithstanding  the  risk  from  Eliza- 
beth's ships  she  chose  the  eastern  route.  Indeed,  before 
she  set  out  from  St.  Germains,  it  had  been  arranged  that 
two  rowing-galleys  belonging  to  her  uncle,  the  Grand 
Prior,  should  be  in  readiness  at  Calais.^  They  were 
commanded  by  Villegaignon  and  Octavian  Bosso,  two  of 
the  ablest  mariners  of  France  ;  and  the  one  to  which  the 
fortunes  of  Mary  were  to  be  committed  was  specially 
celebrated  for  its  speed. 

On  August  3rd,  Mary  was,  however,  still  at  Beauvais, 
waiting,  according  to  Throckmorton,  the  return  of  the 
secretary  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  who  had  been  sent  to 
England/  As  regards  the  news  the  secretary  might  bring, 
we  have  no  information  ;  but,  whether  influenced  by  it 
or  by  other  considerations,  she  now  resolved  to  send  St. 
Colme  with  a  special  message  to  Elizabeth,  and  on  that 

1  Keith,  ii.  53.  2  Teulet,  ii.  171. 

3  Castelnau,  ed.  Petitot,  p.  124.  *  For  Ser.,  iv.  324  (2). 


lyo  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 

account  asked  Throckmorton  to  attend  on  her  at  Abbeville, 
which  he  did  on  the  8th.  That  same  evening  she  continued 
her  journey  to  Calais  ;  and  after  dispatching  St.  Colme 
she  finally,  on  the  14th,  committed  herself  to  her  perilous 
adventure  :  for  Throckmorton's  servant,  coming  on  that 
day  by  Calais,  saw  the  Queen  of  Scotland,  haling  out 
of  that  haven,  about  noon,  with  two  galleys  and  two  great 
ships."  ^ 

^  For  Ser.^  iv.  No.  421  (5). 


CHAPTER  IV 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH 

MARY  was  accompanied  on  her  voyage  by  three  of 
her  uncles,  the  Duke  d'Aumale,  the  Grand  Prior, 
and  the  Duke  d'Elboeuf,  and,  besides  a  large  company  of 
French  and  Scottish  gentlemen — including  Bishop  Leslie, 
Brantome,  Castelnau  and  Chatelard — the  four  Scottish 
Marys  who  as  children  had  accompanied  her  to  France. 
The  capsizing  of  a  boat  in  the  harbour  with  all  hands 
caused  her  to  exclaim,  "  What  augury  is  this  !  for  her 
mood  was  in  no  way  hopeful.  So  consumed  did  she 
appear  to  be  with  grief,  as  to  be  indifferent  to  possible 
adventures  on  the  voyage,  and  almost  devoid  alike  of 
hopes  and  fears.  So  long  as  the  shores  of  France  remained 
in  view,  she  riveted  her  gaze  on  them,  repeating,  half 
hysterically,  "  Adieu,  France  ! "  and  as  they  gradually 
faded  from  her  sight,  she  redoubled  her  lament,  "  Adieu, 
France  !  C'en  est  fait !  Adieu,  France,  je  pense  ne  vous 
revoir  jamais  plus  !  "  The  forebodement  proved  only 
too  true,  though  it  was  not  for  some  years  that  Elizabeth 
was  to  be  in  a  position  to  say  to  her,  "  Thus  far  shalt 
thou  go,  and  no  further  !  " 

As  we  now  know,  Mary  had  no  cause  to  dread 
capture,  though  the  rumour  that  Elizabeth  had  fitted  out 
a  large  fleet  can  hardly,  as  Dr.  Hay  Fleming  supposes/ 

^  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  250. 
171 


172 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


be  attributed  to  the  rash  speech  of  d'Oysell.  That  there 
was  a  considerable  fleet  in  the  North  Sea  is  pretty  certain  ; 
and  also  had  Mary  landed  anywhere  in  England  she  might, 
owing  to  Elizabeth's  original  orders,  have  been  put  to 
some  inconvenience.  Rutland,  Lord  President  of  the 
North,  had  directions  from  Cecil  to  keep  watch  on  French 
and  Scottish  ships  passing  along  the  coast,  and  to  detain 
all  suspicious  persons  who  might  land  at  any  of  the 
harbours.  The  orders  sent  him  were  not  countermanded 
by  Elizabeth,  for  on  August  17th  he  sent  to  Cecil  a  report 
that,  at  three  o'clock  that  morning,  his  outlooks  had  seen 
two  galleys  off  Flamborough  Head,  as  if  making  for  the 
shore  ;  and  he  gave  such  orders  as  "  he  doubted  not  but 
Cecil  would  hear  good  news  of  their  stay."  ^  The  galleys 
— the  large  one  all  white,  and  the  other  coloured  red 
and  having  a  "  blue  flag  with  the  arms  of  France,  and 
in  her  stern  another  white  flag,  glistening  like  silver " — 
did  not,  however,  enter  any  harbour,  but,  after  taking 
soundings,  proceeded  on  their  journey.  There  also, 
according  to  Rutland's  outlooks,  "  appeared,  at  a  good 
distance  from  the  galleys,  thirty-two  sail  of  tall  ships,  and 
shortly  after,  further  ofi^,  twenty  sail,  all  which,  for  lack 
of  wind,  tried  the  seas,  making  no  haste  away."^ 

Dr.  Hay  Fleming  thinks  that  this  numerous  fleet  may 
have  been  the  convoy  of  Mary  ;  ^  but  nothing  is  known 
of  any  such  convoy  ;  it  was  seen  neither  before  nor  after- 
wards, and  the  speed  of  the  galleys  would  not  allow  of 
a  convoy  of  vessels  with  round  keels.  We  must  suppose 
that  the  outlooks,  in  their  excitement,  exaggerated  the 
number  of  vessels  ;  but  the  likelihood  is  that  the  ships, 

^  For.  Ser.,  iv.  No.  418.  '  Idt'd.,  No.  419. 

3  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  249. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  173 


of  which  they  had  but  a  distant  view,  were  Elizabeth's 
own  fleet  ;  for  the  story  is  curiously  corroborated  by 
Castelnau,  who  states  that  when  they  were  about  half- 
way on  their  voyage,  the  English  fleet  hove  in  sight, 
but  were  unable  to  overtake  them  on  account  of  the 
swiftness  of  their  galleys.^  It  is  unlikely  that  Elizabeth 
had  no  more  ships  in  the  North  Sea  than  the  two  or 
three  barks  to  which  she  and  Cecil  referred.  Before 
July  23rd,  de  Quadra  heard  that  they  were  fitting  out 
eight  vessels,  and  he  understood  that  their  now  apparent 
zeal  against  the  pirates — after  they  had  treated  former 
requests  of  his  so  curtly — was  caused  by  their  "  intention 
to  take  this  pirate  affair  as  a  pretext  for  arming  against 
the  Queen  of  Scotland."  ^ 

In  any  case,  Elizabeth's  preparations  caused  Mary  no 
inconvenience,  and  after  a  very  prosperous  voyage  she 
arrived  without  adventure  at  Leith.  From  the  statements 
of  Leslie  and  Brantome  we  gather  that  the  weather  had 
been  rather  hazy  all  through  the  voyage  ;  and  when 
opposite  Berwick  the  fog  became  so  thick  that  they  had 
to  lie  at  anchor  until  the  evening  of  the  i8th  ;  but  by 
nightfall  it  had  so  far  lifted  that  they  were  able  to  continue 
the  voyage  up  the  frith,  so  as  to  reach  Leith  early  in 
the  morning.  From  the  superstitious  nonsense  written 
by  Knox  about  the  "  dolorous  face  of  the  hevins,"  fore- 
shadowing the  sorrow,  dolour,  darkness  and  all  impietie  "  ^ 
that  this  fair  and  pleasant  young  lady  was  to  bring  into 
Scotland,  we  might  suppose  that,  instead  of  easterly  *'haars" 
being  one  of  the  choice  features  of  the  Edinburgh  summer, 

^  Memoires,  ed.  Labourier,  iii.  Chap.  I. 
'  Spanish  Papers,  1558-67,  p.  210. 
'  WorkSy  ii.  264, 


174 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


the  fog  that  greeted  Mary's  arrival  was  almost  as  un- 
common there  as  an  eclipse. 

Yet  the  gloom  of  the  weather  must  have  intensified  to 
Mary  the  rather  cheerless  character  of  her  adventure  ;  and 
the  unpreparedness  of  Scotland  for  her  arrival  prevented  the 
exhibition  of  a  national  welcome  that  might  have  done  much 
to  brighten  her  spirits.  The  summons  for  the  nobility  and 
magistrates  of  Scotland  to  be  in  Edinburgh,  with  "  their 
honourable  companies,"  to  welcome  her,  indicated  that  she 
was  not  expected  before  the  end  of  the  month  ;  and  even 
her  special  messenger,  who  arrived  in  Edinburgh  on  the 
14th,  stated  that  she  need  not  be  expected  before  the  26th. 
She  thus  stepped  ashore  at  Leith  in  the  presence  of  a  mere 
miscellaneous  crowd  of  the  common  people  ;  and  for 
temporary  shelter  she  went  to  the  house  of  Andro  Lambie, 
a  Leith  trader,  who  seems  to  have  been  known  to  her 
mother.  There  certain  of  the  nobles  visited  her,  the  Duke 
arriving  first,  next  Lord  James,  and  then  Arran.^ 

Preparations  for  her  occupation  of  Holyrood  not  being 
complete,  she  did  not  set  out  for  it  until  evening. 
Brantome,  after  his  lively  fashion,  expresses  his  shocked 
amusement  at  the  sorry  appearance  of  the  rough  and  rudely 
caparisoned  Scottish  nags  that  now  appeared  for  the 
conveyance  ot  her  and  her  cortege  to  her  ancestral  palace,  ^ 
whither,  besides  her  curiously  assorted  French  following, 
she  was  accompanied  by  "  sundrie  nobell  men  and  the  town 
of  Edinburgh."  ^ 

Mary's  arrival  was  celebrated  by  bonfires  on  the 
neighbouring  heights  of  Salisbury  Crags  and  the  Calton  Hill ; 
and  according  to  Knox  "  a  company  of  the  most  honest,  with 

^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  501.  ^  (Euvres,  ed.  Buchon,  ii. 

'  Leslie's  History,  p.  244. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  175 


instrumentis  of  musick,  and  with  musitians,  gave  thair 
salutationis  at  her  chalmer  wyndo."  ^  Knox's  company  of 
the  most  honest/'  Brantome  represents  as  "  five  or  six 
hundred  marauds,''  who,  to  the  accompaniment  of  perverse 
violins  and  small  rebecs — a  common  stringed  instrument  of 
the  time — chanted  doleful  psalms,  in  amazing  discord  with 
the  instruments  and  with  one  another. 

Mary,  however,  with  her  usual  good  nature,  affirmed, 
says  Knox,  "  that  the  melody  lyked  her  weill  ;  and  sche 
willed  the  same  to  be  continued  some  nightis  after."  As 
the  grieving  Knox  puts  it,  nothing  was  "  understude  but 
myrth  and  quyetness  till  the  next  Sunday,  which  was  the 
xxiii  of  August."  Apart  from  edifying  serenading,  the 
manifestations  of  joy  were  probably  more  evident  among 
Catholics  than  Protestants  ;  but  the  Protestants,  after  all, 
were  patriots.  Mary,  the  daughter  of  their  ancient  royal 
house,  had  resolved,  braving  the  threats  and  intrigues  of 
Elizabeth,  to  trust  herself,  all  defenceless,  to  the  loyalty 
of  her  people  :  and  her  youth,  her  personal  charm,  her 
frank  goodwill  to  every  one,  secured  her  an  almost  instant 
popularity. 

But  the  understanding  on  which  Mary  had  returned — 
that  she  was  to  have  the  free  exercise  of  her  own  religion — 
was  not,  of  course,  generally  known  ;  and  when  preparations 
began  for  holding  Mass  in  her  chapel,  this,  according  to 
Knox,  "  pierced  the  hearts  of  all,"  that  is,  of  all  who  thought 
as  did  Knox  :  the  stalwart  and  rough  Master  of  Lindsay — 
afterwards  sixth  Lord  Lindsay — of  whose  implacability  Mary 
was  yet  to  have  darker  experience,  representing  the  '^all "  in 
heading  a  mob  who  shouted  in  the  close  for  the  execution  of 
the  "  idolatre  Priest "  ;  ^  but  Lord  James,  who  had  virtually 
1  Works,  ii.  270.  '  Ibid.,  272-3. 


176  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


pledged  his  word  that  his  sister  should  have  the  exercise  of 
her  religion,  himself  remained  on  guard  at  the  chapel  door  ; 
and  after  the  celebration  was  over,  the  trembling  ecclesiastic 
was  escorted  to  his  chamber  under  the  protection  of  Lord 
John  and  Lord  Robert. 

The  Protestant  concern  was,  however,  somewhat  allayed 
by  a  proclamation  on  Monday,  forbidding  every  one,  until 
a  meeting  of  the  Estates,  privately  or  publicly  to  make 
alteration  or  innovation  of  the  state  of  religion  which  the 
Queen  had  found  publictlie  and  universallie  standing  at 
her  Majestie's  arryvell  in  this  her  Realme,  under  the  pane 
of  death,"  all  the  lieges  being  at  the  same  time  commanded 
not  to  molest  or  trouble,  "in  wourd,  deed  or  countenance," 
any  of  the  Queen's  French  servants  or  others  in  her 
train. ^  Yet  the  proclamation  committed  the  Queen  to 
nothing  ;  indeed,  it  even  transformed  the  supposed 
establishment  of  Protestantism  into  a  merely  temporary 
and  abnormal  arrangement,  effected  by  an  irregular  con- 
vention when  the  country  was  practically  in  a  state  of 
revolution.  Its  effect  was  virtually  to  postpone  the  settle- 
ment of  the  religious  dispute  until  Mary's  dispute  with 
Elizabeth  w^as  settled,  Mary,  as  sovereign,  claiming  mean- 
while the  right  to  determine  what  religion  she  herself  should 
profess. 

It  need  hardly  be  stated  that  the  real  origin  of  the 
impasse  was  the  belief  in  the  possibility  of  an  infallible 
Church,  on  the  part  of  Knox  and  the  Protestants,  as  well 
as  on  the  part  of  Mary  and  the  Catholics.  In  England, 
Protestantism  had  come  to  imply  a  certain  amount  of 
religious  liberty,  because  the  innate  and  inevitable  in- 
tolerance of  the  ecclesiastics  of  those  days  was  greatly  held 
*  Knox,  WorkSt  ii-  272-3. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  177 


in  check  by  the  secularity  and  self-interest  of  the  sovereign. 
In  Scotland  it  was  also  being  partly  held  in  check  by  the 
worldly  ambition  of  the  nobility  and  their  ancient  jealousy 
of  the  ecclesiastics  ;  but  the  Scottish  sovereign  had  never 
attained  such  prestige  and  ascendancy  as  the  sovereign  had 
won  in  England  ;  and  the  country  had  practically  revolted 
from  the  sovereign's  control  during  Mary's  absence  in 
France. 

Above  all,  Mary  was  now  confronted  by  the  stupendous 
personality  of  Knox,  stupendous  even  more  by  virtue  of 
his  defects  than  by  reason  of  his  merits  ;  for  his  practical 
sagacity,  his  righteousness,  his  strident  eloquence,  his  in- 
comparable assurance,  his  unbending  integrity  would  not 
alone  have  won  him  his  great  predominance.  To  effect 
this,  they  had  to  be  conjoined  with  a  curious  intellectual 
superficiality  and  narrowness,  which  designed  him  to  be  a 
demagogic  genius  rather  than  a  thinker,  and  begat  in  him 
an  ecclesiastical  fervour  by  which  he  fell  a  prey  to  the 
strong  delusion  that  the  infallibility  supposed  foi  many 
generations  to  belong  to  what  was  deemed  the  Church  of 
God,  had  been  transferred  in  a  manner  to  himself,  as  the 
Heaven-appointed  prophet  and  guide  of  the  Scottish 
Reformation.  In  him  Mary  had  thus  to  deal  with  an 
ecclesiastic  who,  while  professing  to  be  one  of  her  subjects, 
virtually  claimed,  as  the  possessor  of  an  ecclesiastical 
authority  more  stringent  than  that  wielded  by  the  successors 
of  St.  Peter,  a  right  of  direction  in  politics  and  religion, 
that,  if  conceded,  would  have  robbed  her  of  every  vestige 
of  her  sovereignty. 

Of  the  quality  of  Knox,  Mary  was  to  have  a  taste  in  an 
interview  with  him  about  a  fortnight  after  her  arrival  in 
Scotland.    The  points  of  view  of  the  two  disputants  belong 
VOL.  I.  12 


I7B 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


to  another  age  than  ours  ;  but  from  Knox*s  records  of  their 
conference,  one-sided  though  we  must  suppose  it  to  be,  we 
obtain  a  better  insight  into  the  peculiar  standpoints  of  both 
than  any  amount  of  bare  definition  can  supply.^  Mary 
sought  the  interview,  owing  to  a  violent  attack  by  Knox  on 
the  Mass,  one  celebration  of  which — since  it  meant  the 
national  tolerance  of  "  idolatry  " — was,"  he  said,  "  more 
fearful  to  him  than  gif  ten  thousand  armed  enemyes  were 
landed  in  any  pairte  of  the  Realme,  of  purpose  to  suppress 
the  haill  religioun." 

Writing  of  this  sermon  to  Cecil,  the  Elizabethan 
Randolph  assured  him  that  "  the  voyce  of  one  man  is 
hable  in  one  hower  to  put  more  lyf  in  us  than  500 
trompettes  contynually  blusteringe  in  our  eares."  ^  But 
the  "  guydaris  of  the  court " — that  is,  Lord  James  and 
Maitland,  probably — thought  the  sermon,  according  to  Knox, 
"  a  verray  untymelie  admonition "  ;  and  hence  Mary's 
interview  with  him  on  the  Thursday  following,^  in  the 
presence  only  of  Lord  James,  who  appears  to  have  re- 
mained, characteristically,  in  the  background  and  to  have 
said  nothing.  There  was,  between  Mary  and  Knox,  the 
primary  question  as  to  whether  Mary,  as  a  woman,  had 
any  right  of  sovereignty  ;  but  provided  Mary  did  as  he 
desired,  and  on  the  supposition  that  the  Realme  fyndis 
no  inconvenience  frome  the  regiment  [government]  of  a 
woman,  that  which  thei  approve  shall  I  not,"  in  grim 
condescension,  replied  Knox,  "  farther  disallow  than 
within  my  awin  breast  ?  " 

*  See  Knox,  JVorks,  ii.  277-286. 
2  Scottish  Papers,  i.  551. 

^  Thursday,  September  4th  [Scottish  Papers,  i.  551).  Dr.  Hay  Fleming 
{Mary  Qiiee7i  of  Scots,  p.  50)  says  a  "week  after  her  arrival";  but  he 
erroneously  supposes  it  (p.  260)  to  have  been  on  Tuesday. 


After  Tiie  pktu7-e  by  My  tens  at  St.  James's  Palace. 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  179 


But  unhappily  their  ecclesiastical  positions  were  poles 
asunder;  and,  even  from  Knox's  own  account,  we  gather 
that  Mary  maintained  her  position  with  a  dexterity  and  skill, 
which  were  quite  a  match  for  Knox's  assertiveness.  "  Con- 
science, Madam,"  [said  he]  "  requyris  knowledge,  and,  I  fear, 
rycht  knowledge  ye  have  none."  '*But"  [said  she]  *'I  have 
bayth  heard  and  red."  Mary  and  Knox  thus  each,  in  a 
sense,  claimed  the  right  of  private  judgment  ;  but  it  was 
a  judgment  the  exercise  of  which  was  virtually  suspended, 
when  confronted  by  the  two  rival  apparitions  of  infalli- 
bility, an  infallible  Book  and  an  infallible  Church  ;  and  they 
took  refuge  in  separate  forms  of  superstition,  from  which 
neither,  by  any  exercise  of  reason,  could  be  ousted. 

As  to  the  impressions  the  one  gathered  of  the  other's 
character  and  intentions,  Mary,  admiring,  though  she  prob- 
ably did,  the  native  courage  and  grit  of  Knox,  could 
not   be   blind   to  the  real  character  of  his  aspirations. 

Weall  then,"  said  she,  with  characteristic  directness,  "  I 
perceave  that  my  subjectis  shall  obey  you,  and  not  me  ; 
and  shall  do  what  thei  list,  and  nott  what  I  command  :  and 
so  man  I  be  subject  to  thame  and  nott  thei  to  me." 
Knox  assured  her  that  this  subjection  unto  God,  and 
unto  his  troubled  Churche,  is  the  greatest  dignitie  that 
flesche  can  get  upoun  the  face  of  the  earth,  for  it  shall 
carry  thame  to  everlasting  glorie."  "Yea,  (quod  sche), 
but  ye  are  not  the  Kirk  that  I  will  nureiss.  I  will  defend 
the  Kirk  of  Rome,  for,  I  think,  it  is  the  treu  Kirk  of 
God."  After  this  Knox  had  no  difficulty  in  making  up 
his  mind  what  to  think  of  Mary  :  "  Yf  thair  be  not  in 
hir  "  [said  he]  "  a  proud  mynd,  a  crafty  witt,  and  ane  indur- 
rate  hearte  against  God  and  his  treuth,  my  judgment 
faileth  me  "  ;  but  by  "  God  and  his  treuth  "  Knox  merely. 


i8o  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


if  unconsciously,  meant  Knox  himself  and  his  own  version 
of  God's  truth. 

So  far,  however,  the  victory,  if  not  in  argument,  yet 
in  immediate  effects,  remained  rather  with  Mary  than 
with  Knox.  The  result  meanwhile  was  that  Knox  was 
induced  to  be  as  ^'  weall  content  " — this  was  his  unblushing 
comparison — "to  lyve  under  your  Grace,  as  Paul  was  to 
lyve  under  Nero  "  :  so  long  as  that  ye  defyle  not  your 
handis  in  the  blood  of  the  Sanctis  of  God."  Of  this 
resolve,  though  he  cited  apostoUc  example  for  it,  Knox, 
with  characteristic  disregard  of  that  example  when  he 
found  it  not  to  accord  with  his  own  opinion,  afterwards 
bitterly  repented.  God,  he  tells  us,  had  not  only  given 
him  "  knowledge,  and  toung  to  maik  the  impietie  of  that 
idoll  known  unto  this  Realme,"  but  also  influence  with 
many  who,  had  he  but  said  the  word,  would  "  have  put 
in  executioun  Goddis  judgementis "  ;  but  so  careful  was 
he  of  the  common  tranquillity,  and  so  loath  to  offend 
Lord  James  and  others,  that  he  had  dissuaded  them  against 
this.  "  Whairintill,"  he  says,  "  I  unfeanedHe  acknowledge 
my  selff  to  have  done  most  wickedlie  ;  and,  from  the  bottom 
of  my  hart,  askis  of  my  God  grace  and  pardon,  for 
that  1  did  not  what  in  me  lay  to  have  suppressed  that  idoll 
in  the  beginning."  ^ 

Still,  if  Knox  refrained  from  taking  measures  to  deny 
his  sovereign  the  exercise  of  her  religion,  he  hardly  kept 
the  conditions  on  which  she  gave  him  libertie  to  speake 
frelye  hys  conscience  "  :  that  he  should  gyve  unto  her 
such  reverence  as  becomethe  the  mynisteris  of  God  unto 
the  superior  powers."  Refraining  from  attacking  her  in 
his  sermons,  he  yet  in  public  communicated  to  God  his  own 

1  Works^  ii.  277. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  i8i 


opinion  of  her.  ^'  Hys  prayer,"  wrote  Randolph,  is  dayley 
for  her,  that  God  wyll  torne  her  obstinate  harte  agaynst 
God  and  his  trothe,  or,  yf  his  holly  wyl  be  otherwyse,  to 
strengthen  the  harte  and  hand  of  his  chosen  and  electe, 
stowtly  to  withstonde  the  rage  of  al  tyrantes,  or  in  words 
terrible  inoughe." 

But  notwithstanding  the  terrible  enough  "  words  of 
Knox,  the  general  attitude  towards  Mary  was  that  of 
friendliness.  The  rascal  multitude  of  Edinburgh  was  quite 
inclined  to  enjoy  itself  in  baiting  Papal  officials  ;  and  the 
Bishops  of  St.  Andrews  and  Dunkeld,  who  had  imprudently 
arrived  to  pay  court  to  their  Catholic  Sovereign,  in  "  longe 
grownes  and  typettis  with  hattes  upon  their  heddes,"  did 
hardly  dare  put  their  noses  owte  of  their  doores  for 
feare  of  after  clappes "  ;  but  the  Queen  herself  met  with 
no  personal  discourtesy  from  any  one.  The  truth  was  that 
each  religious  party  was  almost  in  equal  hope  of  obtaining 
her  open  support  ;  and  while  the  Protestants  were  assertive 
enough  in  the  manifestation  of  their  desires,  the  Catholics 
were  probably  quietly  confident  of  final  triumph. 

On  the  evening  of  that  very  Sunday  that  Knox 
thundered  out  of  the  pulpit  "  against  the  idolatry  of  the 
Mass,  Mary — the  Edinburgh  sabbath  of  later  times  had 
yet  to  dawn — was  entertained  by  the  provost  and 
magistrates — "  for  the  plesour  of  our  Souerane  and  obteyn- 
ing  of  hir  hienes  favouris — at  ane  honorable  banquet  maid 
to  the  princes  hir  graces  cousingis."  Preparations  of  an 
exceptionally  elaborate  and  costly  character  were  also  in 
progress  for  her  official  entry  into  the  city,  on  Tuesday, 
September  2nd  ;  ^  or,  as  Knox,  in  his  dog-in-the-manger 
manner,  put  it,  "  in  ferses,  in  maskings  and  in  other 
^  Burgh  Records  of  Edinburgh,  155 1-7 1,  pp.  1 19-21. 


l82 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


prodigalities,  faine  wold  fooles  have  counterfooted 
France."  ^ 

Yet,  even  on  such  an  occasion,  Protestant  anxiety 
regarding  the  Queen's  religion  manifested  itself  with  an 
obtrusiveness  which,  if  well  meant,  was  hardly  mannerly. 
In  the  forenoon  of  the  triumph,"  she  set  out  from 
Holyrood  along  the  northern  outskirts  of  the  city  to  the 
Castle,  where  she  dined  at  twelve  o'clock.  In  the  after- 
noon she  made  her  formal  progress  through  the  city,  down 
the  Castle  Hill  and  High  Street  to  her  palace,  a  pall  of 
fine  purple  velvet  being  borne  over  her  head  by  twelve 
representatives  of  the  magistrates,  who  were  followed  by 
a  procession  of  burgesses  in  gaudy  apparel  of  one  pattern, 
specially  made  to  grace  the  occasion.  As  she  neared  the 
"  Butter  Tron,"  the  sound  reached  her  of  certane  barnis," 
singing  "  in  the  maist  hevenlie  wyis,"  and  on  her  passing 
through  the  painted  port  "  erected  there,  "  ane  bony 
barne  discendit  doun,  as  it  had  bene  ane  angell,  and 
deliveritt  to  hir  Hienes  the  Keyis  of  the  toun,  togidder 
with  ane  Bybill  and  ane  Psalme  Buik  coverit  with  fyne 
purpouril  velvet."  -  Knox,  who  was  probably  there, 
regarding  with  austere  curiosit}^  her  reception  of  the 
heavenly  gifts,  thus  grimly  comments  on  her  demeanour : 
"  The  verses  of  her  awin  praise  sche  heard  and  smyled. 
But  when  the  Bible  was  presented  and  the  praise  thairof 
declared,  sche  began  to  frown  :  for  schame  sche  could  not 
refuse  it.  But  sche  did  no  better,  for  immediatlie,  sche 
gave  it  to  the  most  pestilent  Papist  within  the  Realme, 
to  wit  to  Arthoure  Erskyn."  ^  Of  course,  she  did  only 
what  was  proper  in  handing  the  gifts  to  her  Captain  of  the 
Guard  ;  but  Knox,  we  must  suppose,  would  have  been 
1  Wor^s,  ii.  288.  '  Diurnal,  p.  67.  ^  Works,  ii.  288. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  183 


satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  her  renunciation  of 
Catholicism  on  the  spot. 

So  much  for  the  counterfeit  angelic  vision.  If  it 
failed  to  charm  her  from  her  faith,  it  was  hardly  likely 
that  she  would  be  much  drawn  towards  Protestantism 
by  what  Randolph  terms  the  terrible  sygnifications  of 
the  vengeance  of  God  upon  idolaters  "  which  met  her  at 
the  "Salt  Tron,"  where  "  Coron,  Nathan  and  Abiron  were 
burnt "  [for  her  edification]  "  in  the  time  of  the  sacrifice," 
and  where  "  the  shape  of  a  priest  in  his  ornaments  reddy 
to  say  Mass "  would  have  been  burnt  at  the  altar  at 
the  elevation  "  had  not  Huntly  "  stayed  that  pageant."  ^ 

Not  content  with  these  symbolic  exhortations  and 
menaces,  the  magisterial  wiseacres  arranged  that  before  the 
Queen  entered  her  palace  gates,  certain  children  should 
make  to  her  "  some  speeche  concerning  the  putting 
away  of  the  mass."  How  she  accepted  the  advice  of 
the  children,  Knox  was  not  there  to  record  ;  but  all 
ended  pleasantly  enough,  in  the  presentation  of  the  city's 
gift,  a  beautiful  cupboard,  "double  owrgilt,"  which  had 
cost  2,000  marks,  or  about  one-half  of  the  whole  sum 
expended  on  the  banquet  and  triumph. 

On  September  6th  the  Queen  chose  for  her  Privy 
Council  the  principal  nobles  of  the  kingdom,  irrespective 
of  their  political  or  religious  leanings,  six  of  whom  were 
to  be  in  constant  residence  with  her  to  guide  her  in  the 
dispatch  of  routine  business  ;  ^  but  this  custom  was  soon 
discontinued,  the  real  direction  of  affairs  remaining  as  before 
in  the  hands  of  Lord  James  and  Maitland. 

On  the  day  of  the  civic  banquet  the  Duke  d'Aumale 
had  set  sail  with  the  two  galleys  for  France  ;    but  the 
^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  552.  *  Register  of  the  Privy  Council^  i.  157. 


184 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Queen's  other  two  uncles  remained  for  some  time  longer  with 
her  ;  and  they  accompanied  her  when,  attended  also  by  a 
number  of  Scottish  noblemen  and  ladies,  she  set  out  to 
visit  her  palaces  and  some  of  her  principal  towns.  Leaving 
Holyrood  on  September  i  ith  after  dinner,  she  in  the  evening 
reached  Linlithgow  Palace,  of  unique  interest  to  her  as  the 
place  of  her  birth  in  the  mournful  December  of  1542. 
Thence  she  set  out  on  the  13th  for  Stirling  Castle,  of 
her  early  days  in  which  her  memory  could  have  been  but 
dim.  There,  on  Sunday  the  14th,  an  attempt  of  her 
chaplains  to  sing  High  Mass  in  the  Chapel  Royal  caused  a 
scene  of  which  the  only  account  is  the  hearsay  one  of 
Randolph,  who  says  that  Argyll  and  Lord  James  so 
disturbed  the  quyere  that  some,  both  priests  and  clerks, 
left    their   places  with  broken  heads  and   bloody  ears." 

In  Stirling  also  Mary,  according  to  Randolph,  barely 
escaped  a  serious  calamity  :  While  asleep  in  bed,  a  candle 
burning  by  her,  the  curtains  and  tester  took  fire,  and  was 
like  to  have  smored  her  as  she  lay."  ^  From  Stirling  she 
proceeded  on  Monday,  15th,  towards  Perth,  where  she 
must  have  viewed  with  feelings  of  at  least  inward  bitterness 
the  melancholy  spectacle  of  the  ruined  monasteries.  Though 
as  courteously  received  there  as  elsewhere,  and  presented,  as 
a  *'propine,"  with  a  heart  of  gold  filled  with  gold,  her 
visit,  in  fact,  gave  her  more  pain  than  pleasure. 

The  memories  of  the  sad  last  days  of  her  mother, 
awakened  by  the  sight  of  the  ruined  monasteries,  combined 
with  the  too  Protestant  character  of  the  pageants,  were 
probably  the  cause  of  a  sudden  illness  that  overtook  her  as 
she  rode  up  the  street,  and  made  it  necessary  to  bear  her 
to  her  lodging,  which  happily  was  not  far  ofF.^ 

1  Scottish  Papers,  i.  555-  '  Ibid.^  i.  555, 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  185 


From  Perth  she  passed  to  Dundee,  and,  crossing  the 
Tay,  proceeded  to  St.  Andrews,  where  again  the  evidence 
of  Reformation  zeal  was  borne  witness  to  by  the  tumbled 
ruins  of  the  splendid  cathedral.  Randolph  heard,  though 
he  hardly  credited  the  story,  that  on  Sunday  a  priest  had 
been  slain  there  ;  but  at  any  rate,  either  during  the  journey 
or  at  St.  Andrews,  Huntly  and  Lord  James  had  a  violent 
quarrel  about  the  Mass,  Huntly  saying  that  if  the  Queen 
commanded,  he  would  set  up  the  Mass  in  three  shires.  The 
Queen,  however,  did  not  command.  From  St.  Andrews 
she  journeyed  to  Falkland,  the  favourite  hunting  seat  of 
her  ancestors,  at  the  foot  of  the  Lomond  Hills,  whither 
her  father  had  retired  to  die  after  Solway.  Adjoining  it 
was  an  immense  hunting  forest  ;  but  Mary's  visit  was 
a  mere  passing  one,  and  she  arrived  in  Edinburgh  on 
September  29th. 

It  may  be  that  Mary's  progress  had  been  arranged  by 
Lord  James,  partly  as  an  object-lesson  to  shake  her 
constancy  to  her  faith  ;  but,  if  so,  it  had  no  such  effect. 
"She  hath  beene,"  wrote  the  mordant  Knox  to  Mrs.  Anna 
Lock,  in  her  progresse  and  hath  considered  the  mindes 
of  the  people  for  the  most  part  to  be  repugnant  to  her 
devilish  opinioun  ;  and  yitt  in  her  appeareth  no  amendment, 
but  an  obstinat  proceeding  from  evill  to  worse."  ^  Yet 
Mary  evidently  desired  to  act  as  prudently,  as  was  con- 
sistent with  the  maintenance  of  her  title  to  observe  the 
rites  of  her  own  rehgion.  Nor  was  she  at  all  blameable 
for  an  unpleasant  conflict  with  the  magistrates  of  Edinburgh, 
originated  by  a  proclamation  of  theirs  on  the  very  day 
that  Knox  was  penning  his  letter.    The  justification  of  the 


'  Works,  ii.  130, 


i86 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


action  Mary  felt  compelled  to  take,  is  amply  contained  in 
the  tenor  of  the  proclamation.    Here  it  is  : 

"  2d  October  1561. 
"  The  prouest  baillies,  counsale  and  hale 
dekynnis,  persaving  the  preistis,  monkis,  freris,  and 
vtheris  of  the  wikit  rable  of  the  antechrist  the  paip, 
to  resort  to  this  toun,  incontrair  the  tenour  of  the 
proclamatioun  maid  in  the  contrair,  thairfor  ordanis 
the  said  proclamatioun  to  be  proclaimyt  of  new, 
chargeing  all  monkis,  freris,  preistis,  nonnys,  adulteraris, 
fornucatouris,  and  all  sic  filthy  personis,  to  remove 
thamselffis  of  this  toun  and  boundis  thairof  within 
XXIIIL  houris,  vnder  the  pane  of  carting  throuch 
the  toun,  byrning  on  the  cheik,  and  banessing  the 
samyn  for  euir."  ^ 

Nominally  a  renewal  of  a  proclamation  of  March,  1561,^ 
this  one  was  not  only  more  insulting,  but  stricter  in  its  con- 
ditions. In  the  earlier  proclamation  forty-eight  hours  of 
grace  was  granted  ;  in  the  later  only  twenty-four,  with  the 
threat  of  severe  penalties.  Moreover  the  earlier  proclama- 
tion had  been  issued  ''in  our  Soverane  Ladie's  name"  [she 
was  then  absent  in  France]  and  in  name  and  behalf  of 
the  lords  of  the  secreit  counsale  "  ;  and  in  pretending  to 
reissue  this  proclamation  now,  the  magistrates  were  making 
the  Queen  responsible  for  a  public  insult,  and  worse,  to 
the  officials  of  her  own  religion.  No  sovereign,  of  the  least 
self-respect,  could  have  failed  to  take  notice  of  such  indecent 
insolence. 

On  October  5th,  the  Queen  therefore  sent  a  macer  to 
command  the  Council  and  community  to  assemble  within 

^  Records,  1557-71,  p.  125.  '  Ibid.,  p.  loi. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  187 


the  Tolbooth,  and  deprive  the  Provost  and  baillies  of  their 
offices,  which  they  accordingly  did  on  the  8th  ;  and  she 
further  caused  proclamation  to  be  made  that  the  town 
should  be  "  patent  to  all  lieges/'  By  Knox — who  may 
have  had  something  to  do  with  the  magistrates'  proclama- 
tion— the  Queen's  prompt  action  was  ascribed  to  mere 
"  pride  and  maliciousness "  :  ^  it  was  but  further  proof, 
if  proof  were  needed,  "  that  the  Cardinalles  lessons  ar  so 
deaplie  prented  in  hir  heart,  that  the  substance  and  the 
qualitie  are  liek  to  perische  together."  ^  That  she  had 
the  support  of  Lord  James  and  Maitland  was  a  still  further 
bitter  pill  for  Knox.  "  The  whole  blame,"  wrote  he,  "  lycht 
upon  the  necks  of  the  two  fornamed,  be  reason  of  thare 
bearing." 

From  Randolph's  letters,  we  learn  that  the  question  of 
Mary's  resiling  from  her  faith  had  been  mooted  to  her, 
not  only,  in  the  language  of  infallibility  and  menace,  by 
Knox,  but  by  the  English  ambassador,  Randolph,  who 
showed  his  anxiety  for  at  least  her  political  welfare,  by 
presenting  her  with  certain  pamphlets  on  the  subject  of 
the  Mass.  This  led  to  conversations  with  Lord  James, 
the  Queen,  woman-like,  replying,  She  could  not  reasone, 
but  she  knew  what  she  ought  to  believe."  She  however 
expressed  to  Randolph  the  hope  that  Elizabeth  would  not 
"  tayke  the  werce  "  with  her  if  she  was  "  not  resolved  in 
conscience  in  those  matters  "  .  .  .  "  seinge  yt  is  nether 
of  wyll,  nor  obstinacie  agaynst  God  and  his  worde "  : 
from  which  we  may  at  least  gather  that  Mary  had  made 
some  progress  in  mastering  the  terminology  of  the  precise 
Protestants.  Lord  James,  Randolph  also  informs  us^  con- 
tinued to  deal  with  her  "  rudelye,  homeleye  and  bluntly," 
1  Works,  ii.  2QO.  2  /^/^^  1^2. 


i88 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


and  Lethington  "  more  delicatlye  and  fynelye,"  while 
Mary  herself  was     patient  to  here  and  bearethe  myche."  ^ 

It  was  apparently  these  private  disputes — of  which 
he  was  probably  informed  by  Lord  James — that  suggested 
to  Knox  to  seek  the  counsel  of  Calvin  in  a  letter  of 
October  24th. ^  "  The  latter  "  [those  who  "  still  agree  with 
us  in  doctrine  "]  "  have,"  he  writes,  "  this  to  say  in  defence 
of  their  indulgences,  that  the  Queen,  namely,  affirms  that 
all  the  ministers  of  the  Word  (and  yourself  also)  are  of 
opinion  that  it  is  not  lawful  for  us  to  prohibit  her  from 
openly  professing  her  own  religion  "  ;  and  Knox,  though 
convinced  that  Calvin  could  not  hold  such  reasonable 
opinions,  wished  to  have  a  line  from  him  to  say  that 
he  did  not. 

Knox's  notions  of  legality  were  confused,  for  Protes- 
tantism was  then  devoid  of  full  legal  sanction  in  Scotland, 
the  Parliament  by  which  it  had  been  nominally  established 
being  neither  properly  called,  nor  its  proceedings  ratified 
by  the  sovereign,  whose  religious  conduct  he  was  pro- 
posing to  call  in  question.  True,  the  extreme  continental 
Protestants  held  that  all  rulers  ought  to  be  reformed  or 
deprived  by  them  by  whom  they  were  chosen  "  ;  but  in 
Scotland  neither  the  sovereign  nor  the  nobility  were 
"  chosen "  ;  and  Knox  virtually  assumed  the  existence 
of  a  commonwealth,  where  commonwealth  there  was 
none. 

About  a  week  after  the  letter  had  been  dispatched,  an 
event  happened  which  led  to  a  conference,  doubtless  at  the 
instance  of  Knox,  in  the  house  of  James  Makgill,  the  Clerk 
Registrar,  on  the  question  raised  in  it.  On  All  Hallows  day 
— 1st  November — the  Queen  had  a  song  Mass  in  her  chapel, 
1  Scottish  Papers,  i.  pp.  392-3.       '  Works,  vi.  133-5  ;  Teulet,  ii.  172-3. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  189 


and,  according  to  Randolph,  one  of  her  priests  was  beaten  by 
a  servant  of  Lord  Robert.  The  musical  celebration  caused 
a  new  ferment  amongst  the  Protestant  clergy,  and  it  was 
now,  Randolph  tells  us,  called  in  question  whether  "  the 
princesse  being  an  idolatre,  may  be  obeyde  in  all  civil  and 
pollitique  actions."  ^ 

At  a  conference  on  the  subject  between  the  Council  and 
the  Protestant  leaders,  Knox,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  had 
already  written  to  Calvin  on  the  point  to  be  discussed, 
spontaneously  offered — while  concealing  that  he  had  already 
so  written — to  write  "  to  Geneva  for  the  resolutione  of  that 
Churche,"  whereupon  Maitland — who  very  justly  remarked 
that  there  stood  mekle  in  the  information,"  or  manner  of 
stating  the  case — suggested  that  he  himself  had  better  write. 
Though  Knox — who  never  quite  understood  Maitland's 
sense  of  humour — afterwards  professed  to  have  taken  this  as 
a  serious  proposal,  it  was  evidently  only  intended  to  quash 
Knox's  offer  ;  and  it  was  there  and  then  decided,  without 
consulting  Calvin,  that  the  Quene  should  have  hir 
religioun  free  in  hir  awin  chapell  to  do,  sche  and  her 
household,  what  thei  list."  - 

So  far,  the  conduct  of  Knox  about  the  letter  is  perhaps 
excusable,  though  not  quite  above  board,  but  when,  in 
connection  with  a  similar  discussion  in  1564,  the  Clerk 
Registrar  stated  that  during  the  former  debate  he  thought 
it  was  understood  that  Knox  should  write  to  Calvin,  "  Nay," 
said  Mr.  Knox,  "  my  lord  Secretary  wuld  nocht  consent 
that  I  sould  write."  ^  In  defence  of  Knox  against  the 
accusation  of  Joseph  Robertson,  Dr.  Hay  Fleming  *  affirms 
that     Knox  does  not  say  that  Lethington  prevented  him 

»  Scottish  Papers,  i.  569,  '  Knox,  Works,  ii,  292. 

'  Ibid.,  459.  *  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  263. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


from  writing,  but  only  that  he  prevented  the  others  from 
appointing  him  to  write." 

This  is  literally  true,  but  it  is  not  the  whole  truth  of  the 
case  ;  and  it  in  no  degree  explains  the  mysterious  attitude 
of  Knox  towards  his  own  letter.  For  (i)  Knox  in  this  reply 
conveyed,  and  intended  to  convey,  the  false  impression  that 
he  had  not  written  to  Calvin  ;  (2)  when  now  asked  to  write  to 
Calvin,  he  declined  to  do  so;  (3)  he  must  have  possessed  a 
reply  from  Calvin  ;  (4)  he  could  have  no  reason  for  withholding 
it  except  that  Calvin,  who  regarded  Knox  as  headstrong,  had 
advised  him  against  any  rash  action;  and  (5)  if  he  had 
Calvin's  reply,  his  proposal  that  instead  of  asking  the 
opinion  of  Calvin  on  the  particular  point,  they  should 
complain  of  the  general  character  of  his  teaching  to  Calvin 
and  see  what  Calvin  would  say,  must  have  been  a  mere 
endeavour  to  ride  ofF  on  a  false  issue. 

Lord  James  had,  precise  Protestant  though  he  was,  given 
his  word  to  Mary  about  the  Mass  ;  and  while  recognising  all 
the  inconvenience  and  dangers  of  the  arrangement,  he  sought 
to  persuade  himself  that  it  would  be  only  temporary ; 
the  hope  of  him  and  Maitland  being  that  a  solution  both  of 
the  religious  and  political  problem  was  to  be  found  in  a 
cordial  understanding  with  Elizabeth.  The  beginning  of 
this  had  happily  been  laid  by  Elizabeth,  just  as  Mary  was 
setting  out  for  Scotland.  Had  Elizabeth  not  written  to  Mary 
that  letter  of  August  i6th,  and  had  she  neglected  to  send 
her  a  passport  by  St.  Colme,  the  situation  on  Mary's  arrival 
in  Scotland  would  have  been  one  of  great  awkwardness. 
Having  returned  to  Scotland  in  the  face  of  Elizabeth's 
menaces,  Mary  was  debarred  from  making  friendly  approaches 
to  her  ;  while  had  Elizabeth  not  altered  her  tone  until  Mary, 
in  defiance  of  her  menaces,  had  arrived  in  Scotland,  she  could 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  191 


not  now  have  done  so,  without  a  sense  of  humiliation.  For 
some  days  after  Mary's  arrival,  the  private  reflections 
of  Lord  James  and  Maitland  must  therefore  have  been 
sombre  in  the  extreme. 

That  Mary  at  first  actually  contemplated  breaking 
off  diplomatic  relations  with  England,  we  learn  from 
Randolph.  The  second  day  after  her  arrival  she  asked,  said 
Randolph,  what  I  made  here,  and  when  I  dyd  departe." 
But  Mary's  tone  to  him  changed  at  once,  when  she  knew 
of  Elizabeth's  eleventh-hour  repentance.  Now,"  wrote 
Randolph,  "  we  stand  on  better  terms  than  before — especially 
since  the  Lord  of  St.  Colme's  arrival  with  her  safe-conduct, 
four  days  after  she  was  landed."  ^ 

Though  Lord  James  had  received  no  answer,  either 
from  Elizabeth  or  Cecil,  to  his  remarkable  overture  of 
August  6th,  Mary,  on  September  ist,  sent  Maitland  formally 
to  announce  her  prosperous  journey  and  safe  arrival,  and 
her  desire  for  the  continuance  and  increase  of  the  friendship 
between  the  two  countries.  The  object  of  Maitland's  visit 
is  only  partially  disclosed  in  the  mutilated  copy  of  his 
instructions,^  but  it  is  fully  revealed  in  the  general  tenor 
of  his  conferences  with  Elizabeth,  as  detailed  in  his 
Relation,"  first  published,  from  the  MS.  in  the  British 
Museum,  in  Philippson's  Marie  Stuart.^  Though  only- 
instructed  by  Mary  in  very  general  terms,  the  real  aim 
of  his  embassy,  which  was  largely  on  his  own  account, 
was  to  set  forward  the  scheme  first  mooted  by  him,  on 
his  own  initiative,  to  Cecil  immediately  after  the  death  of 
Francis  IL 

As  regards  the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  which  was 

*  Scottish  Papers,  i.  547.  2  Keith,  ii.  72-4  ;  I-abanoff,  i.  104. 

3  III.  444-52. 


192  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


giving  Elizabeth  such  concern,  he  stated  that  he  had  no 
instructions,  for  the  simple  reason  that  Mary  had  not  as 
yet  been  able  to  enter  into  "  the  manyment  of  ony  effairis. 
This  was  perfectly  true,  for  the  Privy  Council  had  not 
then  been  chosen,  and  was  not  chosen  until  September  6th  ; 
but  Maitland's  aim  evidently  was  to  grope  "  Elizabeth's 
mind  as  to  the  recognition  of  Mary's  title,  before  any 
answer  should  be  given  as  to  the  ratification  of  the  treaty. 

In  her  earlier  interviews  Elizabeth  fenced  very  cleverly 
against  Maitland's  contentions :  after  Mary  had  obliged 
her  in  regard  to  the  ratification,  then  would  be  the  time 
"  to  do  hir  any  plesour,"  but  before  that,  she  could  not 
"  with  honour  gratifie  her  in  any  thing."  Her  aim  was 
to  induce  Mary  to  ratify  the  treaty  by  promises,  which 
might  be  interpreted  as  meaning  much,  but  which  in  reality 
committed  her  to  nothing  ;  but  she  was  falling  into  the 
fatal  mistake  of  Henry  VIII.,  that  of  seeking  to  treat  with 
Scotland,  not  on  terms  of  equality  but  of  lofty  patronage. 
Maitland  therefore  sought  to  reveal  to  her  how  little  reason 
she  had  for  the  assumption  of  such  superior  airs.  He  had 
no  authority,  he  said,  to  speak  for  Mary,  but  if  Elizabeth 
desired  his  own  opinion,  ''I  will,"  he  said,  frielie  speik  it, 
that  I  think  that  treaty  so  preiudiciale  to  hir  maiestie,  that 
sche  will  neuir  confirme  it,  and  in  sik  forme  consauit  as 
hir  maiestie  is  not  in  honour  bund  to  do  it." 

More  than  this  :  discerning  Elizabeth's  absorbing  anxiety 
for  its  ratification,  he  did  not  scruple  to  point  out  to  her 
the  immensity  of  the  favour  she  was  asking  Mary  to  confer 
on  her.  In  the  eyes  of  the  world,  the  position  occupied 
by  Elizabeth  was  more  than  equivocal  :  "  It  is  trew," 
so  Maitland  bluntly  put  it,  "  that  althought  your  hienes 
takis  your  self  to  be  lauch  full,  yit  ar  ye  not  alwayis  so 


After  the  picture  by  Zucchero  in  the  collection  of  Ihe  Marquis  of  Salisbury. 


QUEEN  ELIZABETH. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH 


takin  abrod  in  the  warld "  ;  whereas,  for  Mary's  title  : 
alswa  your  hienes  wpone  your  conscience,  nore  the  wyesest 
of  your  subjects  can  na  wise  disallow  it."  The  moral 
of  his  tale  was  that  Elizabeth  had  as  good,  and  probably 
better,  reasons  for  coming  to  an  understanding  with  Mary, 
as  Mary  had  for  coming  to  an  understanding  with  her. 

He  presumed,  however,  to  speak  only  as  the  friend 
of  both  countries  and  of  both  queens,  and  disclaimed  any 
direct  knowledge  of  Mary's  own  opinions  or  intentions. 
He  could  not  tell  whether  Mary  looked  at  the  matter  as 
he  did  :  nor  yit  speak  I  ony  thing  thairof  as  from  hir 
maiestie,  bot  rather  to  lat  your  hienes  understand  that  the 
noble  men  hes  reassone  to  desyir  your  maiestie  to  cum  to 
sum  qualeficacioun." 

Logically,  of  course,  Maitland's  case  was  unanswerable  ; 
but  neither  logic  nor  justice  has  a  vital  connection  with 
questions  of  international  politics,  and  in  that  age  they 
had  even  less  to  do  with  them  than  they  have  now.  In 
this  particular  case,  also,  the  question  of  expediency  was 
unusually  complicated.  The  course  advised  by  Maitland 
was  perhaps  the  more  expedient  for  both,  provided  each 
could  be  sure  of  the  other's  good  faith  ;  but  however 
much  the  interests  of  both  might  have  been  served  by 
an  amicable  understanding,  this  was  found  to  be  impossible. 
Had  the  sovereigns  been  of  the  other  sex,  it  might  not 
have  proved  so  ;  but  there  was  now  to  be  considered, 
not  merely  the  more  incalculable  element  of  feminine 
idiosyncrasies,  but  the  predominant  question  of  marriage. 

For  Elizabeth,  it  can  hardly  be  said  that  she  was  asked 
to  risk  more  than  Mary.  By  recognising  Elizabeth's  title 
Mary  would,  in  a  manner,  tie  her  own  hands.  Yet  should 
Mary  marry  Don  Carlos,  England  would  be  greatly  at 
VOL.  I.  13 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


the  mercy  of  Scotland  and  Spain.  As  to  the  religious 
question,  it  did  not  greatly  concern  Elizabeth,  except  so 
far  as  it  bore  on  the  legitimacy  of  her  title,  and  the  safety 
of  her  position  in  England.  Apart  from  it,  she  had  good 
reason  to  pause  before  agreeing  to  Maitland's  far-reaching 
suggestion ;  but  the  attitude  she  took  up  from  the  beginning 
— however  she  might  seek  in  a  manner  to  veil  it — was 
that  of  an  absolute  non  possumus. 

Froude  and  others  justify  Elizabeth's  obstinacy,  on  the 
supposition  that  the  recognition  of  Mary's  rights  would 
have  been  but  the  signal  for  EHzabeth's  assassination,  or 
a  Catholic  rising  in  England  on  Mary's  behalf.  The 
assassination  possibility  may  be  left  out  of  account,  since 
it  was  always  there  ;  but  as  to  a  Catholic  rising,  this 
would  depend  upon  whether  Mary  remained  a  Catholic, 
and  whether  she  could  be  trusted  to  keep  faith  with 
Elizabeth,  questions  as  to  which  Elizabeth  was  as  yet  but 
imperfectly  informed  ;  but  if  Elizabeth  did  not  marry — 
and  we  must  believe  that  she  had  resolved  not  to  do  so 
— there  was  little  likelihood  that  Mary  would  seek  to 
disturb  her,  once  she  were  assured  of  her  right  of  succession, 
or  that  of  her  children,  to  the  English  throne. 

The  fact,  however,  was  that  Elizabeth's  determination  was 
fixed  and  unalterable  from  the  beginning,  and  for  reasons 
entirely  personal  and  peculiar  to  herself.  So  long  as  the 
question  of  a  successor  to  her  remained  uncertain,  her  im- 
portance would  remain  undiminished,  and  she  would  have 
no  rival  in  the  nation's  affection ;  once  the  succession  were 
definitely  fixed,  there  was  the  possibility  that  the  thoughts 
and  hopes  of  the  nation  might  be  more  and  more  turned 
towards  their  future  sovereign.  This,  in  great  part,  morbid 
apprehension  of  Elizabeth  applied  to  any  successor,  Mary 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH 


or  another,  whether  the  succession  would  be  to  England's 
advantage  or  not. 

Froude's  mistake  as  to  the  character  of  Elizabeth's 
apprehension  has  been  transmitted  not  only,  as  we  have 
seen,  to  Mr.  Lang,  but  also  to  Dr.  Hay  Fleming.  "  To 
agree  to  his  "  [Maitland's]  "  proposal,  would,"  so  he  writes, 
she  insisted,  be  simply  to  prepare  her  own  winding-sheet 
and  make  her  grave  ready."  These  are  not  Elizabeth's 
words,  but  a  paraphrase  of  them.  She,  however,  merely 
meant  that  she  declined  to  have  her  own  attention  and  that 
of  her  subjects  continually  directed  in  this  manner  to  her 
own  decease.  It  applied  to  every  possible  successor  ;  and 
it  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  she  dreaded  that,  as  soon  as 
her  successor  should  be  named,  whoever  that  successor 
might  be,  steps  would  immediately  be  taken  for  her 
assassination.  She  spoke  entirely  in  figure,  her  successor 
being  likened  to  her  winding-sheet.  Think  you,"  she 
said  to  Maitland,  "  yat  I  culd  luif  my  awin  windiescheit, 
princes  cannot  like  their  awin  children,"  etc.  Maitland 
could,  and  did  afterwards,  reply  that  Mary  was  pre- 
cluded by  the  will  of  Henry  VIII.  from  inheriting, 
and  that  all  the  Scots  desired  was  the  removal  of  the 
disqualification  ;  but  Elizabeth  desired  this  retained,  simply 
because  the  ambiguity  added  to  her  personal  importance.  In 
her  determination  to  do  nothing  to  clear  up  the  ambiguity, 
she  was  influenced  neither  by  weak  dread  of  assassination 
nor  by  high  consideration  for  the  welfare  of  England,  but 
by  a  mere  adamantine  self-regard.-^ 

Mary's  attitude  towards  Elizabeth  is  much  more  difficult 

^  Since  this  was  written,  I  find  that  my  interpretation  of  the  "  winding- 
sheet "  phrase  agrees  with  that  of  Father  Pollen.  See  his  excellent 
note  in  A  Letter  from  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  (Scottish  History  Society, 
1904,  p.  xviii). 


196  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


to  determine  ;  for  while  Elizabeth  was  hard  and  cold, 
Mary  was  passionate  and  emotional.  Mary's  ambition 
was  also  wider  than  that  of  Elizabeth.  Elizabeth  had 
practically  reached  the  summit  of  hers.  As  she  stated  to 
Maitland,  she  was  married  to  the  realm  of  England.  She 
had  apparently  no  desire  for  any  wider  sovereignty  :  she 
showed  no  similar  desire  to  that  of  her  father  to  obtain 
personal  dominion  over  Scotland  ;  and  it  was  a  matter  of 
minor  concern  to  her  whether,  after  her  death,  the  crowns 
of  Scotland  and  England  became  united  or  not.  Her  main 
concern  and  ambition  were  to  rule  England  successfully 
— to  defend  it,  because  it  was  now  hers,  against  external 
foes  ;  and  to  preserve  it,  because  it  was  now  hers,  from 
the  dangers  of  revolution.  Her  own  fortunes  being  bound 
up  with  England's  greatness  and  glory,  she  was  prepared 
to  do  her  utmost  to  maintain  them  intact  so  long  as 
she  lived  ;  what  might  afterwards  become  of  England 
was  not  of  prime  consequence  to  her,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  it  would  be  no  longer  hers.  Mary,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  in  the  position  of  one  whose  ambition 
had  been  thwarted,  who  had  to  retrieve  her  fallen  fortunes, 
whose  future  was  peculiarly  uncertain,  and  whose  aims 
and  hopes  regarding  it  were  largely  a  matter  of  conjecture  : 
the  most  that  was  certain  was  that  she  would  not  be 
permanently  content  either  with  the  present  condition  of 
her  sovereignty  in  Scotland,  or  with  her  present  relations 
to  the  English  succession. 

With  the  question  of  Mary's  future  was  of  course 
intimately  bound  up  the  question  of  her  religious  policy. 
In  accordance  with  her  statement  to  Throckmorton  before 
she  set  out  for  Scotland,  she  would  have  desired  to  have 
at  least  begun  with  a  policy  of  general  toleration  ;  but 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  197 


she  soon  discovered  that  this  was  meanwhile  impossible, 
and  with  difficulty  obtained  even  a  kind  of  half-toleration 
for  herself. 

Had  it  been  possible  for  her,  consistent  with  her 
political  purposes,  to  have  restored  Catholicism,  Mary  would 
of  course  have  done  so  :  but  this  does  not  bind  us  to 
infer  that  her  primary  aim,  as  Froude  supposed,  was  to 
restore  Catholicism — that  she  threw  herself,  as  he  states, 
amongst  the  most  turbulent  people  in  Europe''  in  order 
"  to  use  her  charms  as  a  spell  to  win  them  back  to  the 
Catholic  Church,  to  weave  the  fibres  of  a  conspiracy  from 
the  Orkneys  to  the  Land's  End,  prepared  to  wait,  to 
control  herself,  to  hide  her  purpose  till  the  moment 
came  to  strike :  yet  with  a  purpose  resolutely  formed 
to  trample  down  the  Reformation  and  to  seat  herself  on 
Elizabeth's  throne."^  That  about  the  time  of  her  arrival 
in  Scotland  she  cherished  any  such  firm  purpose  is  clearly 
refuted  by  her  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Guise  of  January  5th, 
1561-2,^  which,  as  Father  Pollen  states,  "affords  the  clearest 
evidence  that  she  then  looked  forward  to  an  intimate 
alliance  with  the  Queen  of  England,  and  was  not  weighed 
down  by  her  responsibilities  as  a  Catholic  sovereign."^ 

Mary,  when  she  arrived  in  Scotland,  was  a  convinced 
and  strongly  biased  Catholic  ;  but  devotion  to  the  Catholic 
religion  was  not,  as  in  the  case  of  Mary  of  England, 
either  the  supreme  influence  in  her  life,  or  its  advancement 
the  main  aim  of  her  politics.  When  she  left  France,  her 
ruling  motive,  like  that  of  her  relatives  of  Guise,  was 
political  ambition  cloaked  by  an  artificial  religiosity.  How- 
ever  desirous    she   may  have   been,    therefore,    for  the 

*  History,  cab,  ed.,  vi.  510-11.       ^  Papal  Negotiations,  pp.  435-40. 
'  Ibid.,  pp.  xlix-1. 


198  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


restoration  of  Catholicism  in  Britain,  it  can  hardly  be 
affirmed  that  she  set  out  for  Scotland  with  "a  purpose 
fixed  as  the  stars  to  undo  the  Reformation."  Her  main 
immediate  purpose  was  to  establish  herself  firmly  on  the 
Scottish  throne  and  obtain  the  recognition  of  her  rights 
to  the  English  succession  ;  and  her  ultimate  hope  was 
to  obtain  the  hand  of  Don  Carlos.  This  hope  neces- 
sitated constancy  to  the  Catholic  religion  ;  and  she  certainly 
desired  to  have  it  believed  both  by  the  King  of  Spain 
and  the  Pope  that  she  was  resolved  on  the  restoration 
of  Catholicism  ;  but  this  restoration  she  would  not  mean- 
while engage  in,  lest  she  should  endanger  her  political 
ambitions. 

With  every  respect  to  the  value  on  such  a  question 
of  the  opinion  of  Father  Pollen,  the  Pope*s  letter  of 
December  3rd,  1561,  does  seem  to  imply  that  Mary  had 
given  a  promise  to  do  all  that  was  possible  for  the 
advancement  of  Catholicism  in  Scotland  ;  but  her  ideas 
of  what  was  possible  were,  at  the  same  time,  regulated  by 
a  very  constant  regard  to  her  own  personal  interests. 
The  Pope,  well  aware  of  her  difficulties  and  temptations, 
and  remembering  that  her  mother  had  lost  Scotland  to 
Catholicism  by  a  too  exclusive  zeal  for  the  interests  of 
France,  had  very  special  reasons  for  e5rhorting  her  to 
constancy.  He  wished  her  to  take  for  her  model,  in  this 
respect,  Queen  Mary  of  England,  of  pious  memory," 
who  "  surely  did  not  defend  the  cause  of  God  timidly, 
nor  hesitate  in  withstanding  the  foes  of  the  Christian 
religion "  ;  and  she  was  to  allow  no  danger  to  scare 
her  from  the  "  defence  of  the  holy  faith.'*  He,  how- 
ever, was  somewhat  astray  as  to  her  character  and  aims. 
She  was  quite  as  courageous  as  Mary  of  England.  She 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  199 


was  not  to  be  scared  by  any  possible  danger  from  anything 
on  which  her  heart  was  set  ;  but  however  she  might 
deceive  herself,  the  restoration  of  Catholicism  was  never 
more  to  her  than  a  secondary  consideration. 

Mary's  future  relation  to  Catholicism  in  Scotland  could 
not  be  certainly  inferred  from  her  past  relation  to  it  in 
France.  Up  till  her  arrival  in  Scotland  her  career  had 
been  determined  for  her  mainly  by  others.  As  yet  her 
character,  even  if  at  all  definitely  formed,  had  hardly  had 
an  opportunity  to  reveal  itself :  queen-consort  though 
she  had  been,  neither  she  nor  her  husband  had  had  much 
to  say  in  the  determination  of  French  policy.  Hitherto 
she  had  occupied  almost  the  position  of  a  jeune  fille  ;  and 
in  all  matters  of  supreme  moment  she  had  been  accustomed 
to  feel  and  think  and  act  as  her  uncles  of  Guise  had 
prescribed.  Her  old  affection  and  respect  for  them  re- 
mained ;  she  was  still  disposed  to  trust,  so  far,  to  their 
political  guidance  ;  but  the  old  ascendancy  over  her  and 
the  unity  of  her  interests  with  theirs  were  already  beginning 
to  dissolve.  Her  new  situation  was,  moreover,  one  of  the 
most  exceptional  and  bewildering  that  any  sovereign  was 
ever  placed  in.  So  widely  different  in  character  were  her 
new  environment  and  prospects  from  her  preceding  experi- 
ences, that  her  past  life  hardly  afforded  any  certain  clue  to 
the  policy  she  might  pursue  ;  and  while  the  strength  of  her 
devotion  to  Catholicism  might  easily  be  overrated,  it  might 
also  turn  out  that  the  character  of  her  sovereign  ambition 
would  be  modified  by  a  variety  of  considerations  of  whose 
strength  there  might  at  first  be  no  definite  sign. 

Most  female  sovereigns  have  cordially,  and  even  passion- 
ately, loved  the  exercise  of  sovereignty,  and  in  Mary  the 
passion  for  sovereignty,  invigorated  rather  than  enfeebled 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


by  repression,  became  inordinately  strong  ;  but  what  limit 
is  to  be  placed  on  her  definite  hopes,  desires  and  intentions, 
when  she  arrived  in  Scotland,  and  how  much  she 
was  prepared  to  sacrifice  in  the  attainment  of  her  ends, 
is  another  matter.  Unlike  EHzabeth,  she  had  a  genius 
for  friendship  ;  and  love,  passion,  and  revenge  were  all 
to  play  an  important  part  in  the  decision  of  her  future — 
ultimately  a  more  important  part  than  either  religion  or 
ambition.  But,  besides  all  this,  her  aims  were  so  controlled 
and  frustrated  by  the  designs  of  others,  that  her  fate  may 
be  said  to  have  been  determined  for  her  rather  than  by  her. 

The  only  definite  result  of  Maitland's  interview  with 
Elizabeth  was  the  dispatch  by  her,  on  September  17th, 
of  Sir  Peter  Mewtas  to  demand  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty  of  Edinburgh  ;  but,  in  consequence  of  Maitland's 
visit,  the  tone  which  Mewtas  was  instructed  to  adopt 
was  of  a  more  friendly  character  than  would  otherwise 
have  been  possible.  To  any  appearance  of  friendhness 
Mary  was  always  ready  to  respond,  and  whether  she 
believed  in  the  possibility  of  true  friendship  with  Elizabeth 
or  not,  the  way  was  now  open  for  at  least  the  assumption 
of  cordiality.  To  Randolph  she  expressed  her  great  satis- 
faction with  her  interview  with  Mewtas.  She  was,  she 
said,  greatly  beholden  to  Elizabeth  for  sending  to  visit 
her  so  good  and  anciente  a  gentleman "  ;  and  by  him 
she  understood  "  farre  other  wyse  of  the  reportes  of 
thinges  "  than  hitherto  ;  ^  and  Randolph  summed  up  the 
tenor  of  her  professions  as  to  the  effect  "  that  what  she 
may  do  with  honour,  fit  for  a  princess  occupying  her 
place,  shall  be  performed  to  the  uttermost." 

Mewtas  set  out  on  his  return  on  October  7th,  bearing 
^  Scottisk  Papers,  i.  559. 


the  picture  attributed  to  Marc  Gheeraedts  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 

Photo  by  Emery  Walker. 


WILLIAM  CECIL,  FIRST  BARON  BURGHLEY,  K.G. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  201 


with  him  a  memorandum  of  Mary  on  the  subject  of  the 
treaty,  in  which  she  offered  to  nominate  certain  Commissioners 
who  should  confer  with  those  nominated  by  Elizabeth, 
in  order  to  determine  what  portion  of  the  treaty  it  would 
now  be  advisable  to  ratify/  With  Mewtas,  Maitland  sent 
a  remarkable  letter  to  Cecil,  in  which  he  pointed  out  that 
if  Elizabeth's  father,  Henry  VIIL,  intended  to  bar  Mary 
from  the  succession,  her  grandfather,  Henry  VIL,  could 
hardly  have  intended  such  a  slur  on  his  possible  des- 
cendants, when  he  gave  his  eldest  daughter  in  marriage 
to  James  IV.  While  also  affirming  that  he  found  in  his 
"  Queen  a  good  disposition  to  quietness,"  there  was,  he 
added,  therewith  joined,  a  careful  regard  to  her  own 
state,  and  a  courage  such  as  will  be  loth  to  forgo  her 
right "  ;  and  he  reminded  him  that  England,  by  falling 
in  with  the  proposed  arrangement,  "  has  a  great  advantage 
present,  Scotland  only  by  future  contingency."^ 

The  letter  of  Maitland  was  supplemented  in  charac- 
teristically solemn  and  elusive  fashion  by  Moray,  who 
devoted  himself  to  that  aspect  of  the  question  of  which 
he  and  Cecil  were  accustomed  to  make  so  much  in  their 
correspondence — the  advancement  of  "  true  religion  in  this 
whole  Isle."  He  was  in  good  hope  that  the  obedience  of 
Mary's  subjects,  ^'  professouris  of  the  treu  religion,"  would 
have  its  effect  in  inducing  his  sister  "  to  allow  the  doctrine 
of  the  Evangell,"  and  he  was  also  convinced  "  touching  the 
matter  mentioned  by  Lethington  "  ;  but  he  was  content 
to  leave  the  matter  to  the  perspicacity  of  Cecil.  Compared 
with  the  incisiveness  of  Maitland,  the  letter  of  Lord  James 
was  mere  milk-and-water." 

Not  so,  however,  a  third  letter  carried  by  Mewtas,  that 

1  Labanoff,  i.  1 15-16.  ^  Haynes,  State  Papers,  p.  373, 


202  MARY  QUEEN  OK  SCOTS 


of  the  very  fully  persuaded  Knox — persuaded,  however, 
in  an  entirely  opposite  way  from  Maitland.  Like  Lord 
James,  the  matter  that  Knox  was  mainly  concerned  about 
was  the  conversion  of  the  Queen  ;  but  while  his  interest  in 
this  was  not  affected  by  worldly  ambition,  he  was  by  no 
means  so  sanguine  as  her  not  unworldly  brother  professed 
to  be.  On  the  contrary,  he  wrote,  "  I  wold  be  glaid  to 
be  deceived,  but  I  fear  I  shall  not.  In  communication 
with  her  I  spyed  such  craft  as  I  have  not  found  in  such 
aige — since  hath  the  court  been  dead  to  me  and  I  to  it."  ^ 
But  of  course,  in  seeking  to  thwart  the  negotiation  by 
sending  such  a  letter  to  Cecil,  Knox  was  guilty  of  an  inter- 
ference with  the  matters  of  his  sovereign  that  bordered 
on  treason. 

Meanwhile  Throckmorton,  in  Paris,  had  been  holding 
a  singular  conference  with  another  famous  personage,  as 
keenly  interested  in  the  result  of  the  negotiation  as  any 
of  the  three  remarkable  Scotsmen.  This  was  Mary's  uncle, 
the  Duke  of  Guise.  He  and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine, 
devoted  as  ever  to  the  advancement  of  their  niece's  fortunes, 
so  far  as  this  did  not  prejudice  their  own,  were,  at  this 
particular  juncture,  also  specially  desirous  to  commend 
themselves  to  Elizabeth.  Their  interference — for  the  Duke 
represented  also  his  brother — was  apparently  not  due  to 
direct  prompting  from  Mary.  It  was  occasioned  by  a 
request  of  Queen  Elizabeth  for  the  suppression  of  a  book 
by  Gabriel  de  Sacconey,  in  which  Anne  Boleyn  was  com- 
pared to  the  heathen  wives  of  Solomon.  Guise  wished  to 
impress  on  Throckmorton  that  he  and  his  brother  desired 
to  do  their  utmost  to  bring  about  an  understanding  between 
Elizabeth  and  their  niece  on  the  basis  of  Maitland's 
^  Works,  vi.  137. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  203 


overture.  After  entering  very  fully  into  genealogical  de- 
tails, he  affirmed  that  Maitland's  overture  seemed  to  him 
the  only  possible  method  of  providing  for  the  quietness 
of  the  two  Queens." 

Mary,  the  Duke  further  said,  was  by  nature  one  of  the 
"  meekest  and  best-natured  Princes  in  the  world,"  if  she 
were  dealt  with  fairly.  If  she  married  a  puissant  prince, 
it  would  be  dangerous  for  England  to  leave  the  matter 
at  large  ;  but  if,  on  the  contrary,  Maitland's  overture  were 
accepted,  the  Queen,  her  nobles,  and  subjects,  may  be 
assured  that  the  Queen  of  Scots  will  never,  in  marriage 
or  in  anything  of  consequence,  proceed  without  the  advice 
of  the  Queen  and  her  realm  ;  and  they,  her  kinsmen,  would 
never  give  her  any  other  advice."  ^ 

On  Throckmorton  the  Duke's  representations  produced 
a  deep  effect — so  deep  that,  in  a  letter  to  Cecil  he  expressed 
the  conviction  that  not  to  deal  with  the  succession  was  more 
dangerous  than  dealing  with  it,  and  prayed  that  God  and 
the  Council  would  so  inspire  Elizabeth  that  they  might 
not  be  left  at  her  death  "  to  the  rage  of  factions  and  the 
mercy  of  others."  ^ 

Maitland  learned  from  Randolph  of  this  remarkable 
interview,  and  in  a  letter  of  October  25th  he  hoped  soon 
to  learn  of  Elizabeth's  determination,  and  wished  him 
in  his  next  to  write  amply  his  opinion.^  But  Cecil  was 
evidently  as  much  puzzled  about  the  problem  as  Elizabeth, 
and  even  more  so,  for  he  was  puzzled  about  Elizabeth 
as  well  as  Mary.  Writing  to  Throckmorton  on  November 
4th  he  reported  that  Elizabeth  had  not  yet  agreed  to  a 
Commission   for   the  revision    of  the    treaty,  although 


^  For.  Ser.,  iv.  No.  592  (i).  '  Ibid.,  596  (i). 

'  Scottish  Papers,  i.  565. 


204 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


several  of  the  Council  were  in  favour  of  it,  and  that 
he  did  not  "  dare  to  be  busy  therein  for  fear  of  wrong 
construction."  ^ 

Neither  Elizabeth  nor  Cecil  would  be  rendered  more 
willing  to  fall  in  with  the  proposal  by  a  letter  of  Randolph 
of  October  27th.  By  this  time  Randolph  had  come  to 
realise  that  the  old  sway  hitherto  exercised  by  him  over 
the  Scots,  either  by  bribery  or  persuasion,  was  now  gone, 
and  that  there  was  like  to  be  no  effect  of  his  "  travail  "  ; 
and  necessarily  he  felt  keenly  his  now  comparative  im- 
potence. How  to  "  use "  them  with  whom  he  formerly 
"had  to  do"  and  "govern"  himself  "amongst  them" 
was,  he  now  found,  beyond  his  art  to  determine.  "  This 
trade,"  he  laments,  "  is  now  cleane  cut  of  from  me  ;  I 
have  to  trafique  nowe  with  other  kynde  of  marchants 
than  before.  Theie  knowe  the  value  of  their  ware,  and  in 
all  places  howe  the  marquet  goethe."  Some  had  even 
hinted  that  he  himself  might  "  honestlye  inoughe  tayke 
a  quiete  pencion  of  thys  Quene,  as  Ledington  dothe  yerlye 
of  my  mestres." 

What  Elizabeth  and  the  English  had  no  scruple  in 
practising,  Randolph  apparently  deemed  unspeakable 
wickedness  on  the  part  of  Mary  and  d'Elboeuf.  That 
the  "  whole  state  of  thys  realme  sholde  be  altered  by 
one  heade  or  two,  by  a  woman  and  ane  man,"  "  semethe 
wonder,"  he  said,  "unto  many."  Those  who  thought 
Mary  was  without  "  excellent  wisdoms  "  did,  he  said,  but 
"  abuse  themselves,  for  what  so  mever  pollicie  is  in  all 
the  cheaf  and  best  practysede  heades  in  France,  what  so 
mever  crafte,  faked  or  deceayte  ys  in  all  the  subtle 
braynes  of  Scotlande,  is  either  freshe  in  thys  onlie 
*  For.  Ser.,  iv.  No.  648, 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  205 


woman's  memorie,  or  she  can  fette  yt  with  a  wette 
fynger."  ^ 

This  outburst  was  due  to  a  special  fit  of  depression  : 
it  was  that  of  a  diplomatist  who,  accustomed  formerly  to 
have  very  much  his  own  way,  now  found  himself  entirely 
puzzled  and  baffled.  Yet  it  must  have  made  Elizabeth 
and  Cecil  more  dubious  than  ever  as  to  how  to  receive 
Mary's  advances.  A  reply  had,  however,  already  been 
deferred  too  long,  and  further  procrastination  could  have 
no  better  effect  than  to  reinforce  Mary's  confidence  in 
the  weakness  of  Elizabeth's  case.  Logically,  indeed, 
Elizabeth  had  no  case  at  all  ;  and  since  she  had  deter- 
mined not  to  marry,  she  was,  in  a  sense,  almost  at  Mary's 
mercy.  What  she  really  wished  to  do  was  both  to  avoid 
naming  Mary  as  her  successor  and  to  prevent  Mary 
marrying  at  all,  or,  if  this  could  not  be  prevented,  marrying 
otherwise  than  she  approved — not  only  a  preposterously 
dishonest  programme,  but  one  which  could  not  be  carried 
out. 

The  case  was  thus  one  which,  Elizabeth  seemed  to 
think,  called  for  a  quite  exceptional  exercise  of  her  powers 
of  procrastination  and  crooked  pretence.  Maitland  en- 
deavoured to  assist  the  progress  of  the  negotiation  by 
a  letter  to  Dudley  on  November  13th,  in  which  he  exhorted 
him  to  do  what  he  could  to  be  a  meane  to  joyne  in  perfyte 
amity  soche  a  couple  off  ladyes,  as  I  think  the  world  did 
neuer  see  the  lyke  in  our  age — so  richely  endowed  with  all 
perfection  off  body  and  spreit,  besydes  the  gyftes  off 
fortune."  And  he  further  stated  that  in  his  mistress  he 
had  found  a  ^'  a  reciproque  goodwill  doubly  more  and 
more  increased,  which  off  late  hath  taken  so  deape  roote 
^  For.  Ser.,  No.  635 ;  Scottish  Papers,  i.  565-6. 


2o6  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


her  Majesty  doth  now  wishe  nothing  more  earnestly 
than  y*  she  may  ones  have  occasion  to  see  her  good 
sister,"  etc.  ^ 

It  may  therefore  have  been  owing  to  the  representations 
of  Leicester  that  Elizabeth  now  proposed  that  she  and 
Mary  should  enter  into  a  private  correspondence  on  the 
matter,  without  the  intervention  of  ambassadors.  Mary 
was  to  state  her  reason  to  Elizabeth  for  delaying  the 
ratification,  and  "gif  the  same  be  to  be  allowed  unto  zow 
in  reason,  zow  sail  wele  persave  we  will  require  nothing 
bot  that  quhilk  honour,  justice  and  reason  sail  allow  us 
to  ask,  and  that  quhilk  in  like  honour,  justice  and  reason 
yow  ought  to  grant."  ^  It  all  seemed  admirably  simple, 
for  how  could  two  so  intelligent  sovereigns,  both  actuated 
by  such  exceptional  motives,  fail  to  arrive  at  an  under- 
standing ? 

The  letter  was  presented  to  Mary  on  December  12th 
by  Randolph,  who  wrote  on  the  17th  that  after  a  second 
interview  Mary,  while  telling  him  that  she  purposed  to 
use  Elizabeth's  letter  most  secretly,"  said  that  she  had 
delayed  to  answer  it,  partly  owing  to  a  meeting  of  the 
Convention,  partly  because  she  was  expecting  a  reply  from 
Elizabeth  to  her  last  letter.^ 

This  letter  of  Mary's  was  one  in  reference  to  a  visit 
of  the  French  ambassador,  de  Foix,  which  was  due  to 
a  new  rupture  between  Catherine  and  the  Guises,  the  Duke 
de  Nemours  having  been  lately  apprehended  on  the  charge 
of  conspiring  to  abduct  the  Duke  d'Anjou,  eldest  brother 
of  the  King  of  France.  De  Foix,  while  he  wished  to 
secure  the  support  of  Elizabeth  and  the  Scottish  Protestants 


1  Add.  MSS.  (B.M.),  35,125  f.  8.  »  Keith,  ii.  133. 

2  Scottish  Papers,  i.  579. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  207 


against  the  Guises,  privately  advised  Mary  against  coming 
to  an  agreement  with  Elizabeth/  Mary  had,  however, 
no  desire  that  Catherine  should  be  helped,  and  she  had 
therefore  sought  to  disabuse  Elizabeth  of  any  bad  im- 
pressions created  by  de  Foix's  insinuations  against  her 
uncles  :  she  assured  her  that  not  only  were  they  perfectly 
loyal  to  their  king,  but  specially  desirous  of  promoting 
friendly  relations  betwixt  all  the  three  countries.^  A  visit 
to  her,  about  the  same  time,  of  de  Morette,  she  also 
explained,  had  reference  merely  to  the  birth  of  a  child 
to  her  uncle  and  aunt  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Savoy. 
This  was  hardly  true,  because  he  was  also  entrusted  by 
the  Cardinal  with  an  invitation  to  Mary  to  send  representa- 
tives to  the  Council  of  Trent  ;  but  since  Mary,  no  more 
than  Elizabeth,  intended  to  respond  to  the  invitation, 
Elizabeth  was  not  substantially  wronged  by  Mary's 
explanation. 

Mary  had  thus  a  pretty  good  excuse  for  delay  in 
answering  Elizabeth's  proposal  ;  and  it  was  also  deemed 
advisable  to  discover  what  had  led  Elizabeth,  after  so  long 
delay,  to  come  to  such  an  exceptional  resolution,  how  far 
she  was  acting  with  or  without  the  advice  of  her  councillors, 
and  how  far  her  views  as  to  the  treaty  coincided  with  theirs. 
On  the  15th  Maitland  therefore  wrote  to  Cecil  that  he 
had  advised  Mary  to  defer  her  answer  for  a  short  time, 
and  that  meanwhile  he  should  be  glad  to  have  Cecil's 
"  opinion  how  the  same  may  be  so  framed,  so  as  neither 
be  pained  nor  miscontented."  He  also  thought  it  well 
to  enlighten  Cecil  again  as  to  Mary's  sentiments  :  she 
was  willing  to  do  anything  if     made  sure  of  her  title  "  ; 

^  Papal  Negotiations,  p.  443. 
'  Letter  in  Philippson,  iii.  452-3. 


2o8  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


but  to  enter  into  a  demand  and  find  a  repulse,  it  would 
much  offend  her,  being  of  such  courage,"  etc.  ^ 

Maitland*s  communication  was  skilful,  but  it  was  also 
perfectly  fair  and  above  board.  Before  Elizabeth's  letter 
was  received  he  had,  on  December  yth,  written  to  Cecil 
about  the  affairs  of  the  Guises,  and  he  expected  that  some 
mention  of  it  would  have  been  made  in  Elizabeth's  letter. 
Receiving  no  answer  to  either  of  these  two  letters,  he  again 
wrote  Cecil  on  the  26th,  to  the  effect  that  he  was  delaying 
Mary's  answer  until  he  had  his  advice,  as  from  long 
experience  he  knew  how  his  mistress  should  be  dealt  with. 
Shortly  after  dispatching  this  letter  he  received  one  from 
Cecil  of  which  only  the  concluding  part  remains,  but 
which  plainly  contained  no  reference  of  any  kind  to 
Elizabeth's  letter.  We  also  learn  from  a  letter  of  Mait- 
land's  of  January  15th  that  Cecil,  in  a  letter  of  January  3rd, 
professed  to  be  "  something  offended  "  that  Maitland  had 
ventured  to  write  for  his  advice."  Cecil's  resolute  silence 
could  thus  hardly  be  interpreted  in  any  other  way  than  that 
Elizabeth  was  acting  without  the  advice  of  her  Council  ; 
but,  in  any  case,  in  view  of  the  silence,  it  would  have  been 
folly  to  have  made  any  great  pretence  of  humility  or  even 
conciliation  towards  Elizabeth. 

In  her  reply  Mary  therefore  stated  her  views  not  only 
plainly,  but  with  all  due  emphasis.  Waiving  the  con- 
sideration of  the  altered  circumstances  and  the  question 
of  the  treaty's  regularity,  she  put  it  to  Elizabeth,  was 
it  reasonable  to  expect  that  she  could  willingly  ratify  a 
treaty,  so  deeply  prejudicial  to  her  own  interests  and 
prospects  ?  "  How  prejudiciall  that  treatie  is  to  sic  title 
and  interes  as  be   birth  and  naturall  discente   of  zour 

1  Haynes,  Slate  Papers,  p.  373.     ^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  573,  581,  588. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH 


awin  linage  may  fail  to  us,  be  veray  inspectioun  of  the 
treaty  itself,  ze  may,"  she  said,  "  easelie  persave."  She  was 
not  ignorant  of  the  attempts  that  had  been  made  to 
act  towards  her,  as  if  she  had  no  connection  with  the 

blude  of  Ingland "  ;  but  she  hoped  EHzabeth  would 
be  loath  that  she  should  receive  so  manifest  an  injury, 

as  wnterlie  to  be  debarrit  from  that  title,  quhilk  in 
possibilitie  may  fall  unto  us."  She  was  prepared  to  do 
all  in  regard  to  the  treaty  that  in  reason  might  be 
required  of  her,  or  rather  to  enter  into  a  new  one 
of  a  more  satisfactory  kind  :  and  she  concluded  with 
the  hope  that  she  and  Elizabeth  might  meet  together,  when 
she  would     mair  clerelie  persave  the  sinceritie "   of  her 

gude  meanyng  "  than  she  could  "express  in  writing."^ 
Nominally,  the  letter  was  that  of  Mary,  but  the  voice  of 
it  was  also  that  of  Lethington  ;  and  Elizabeth's  corre- 
spondence device  having  thus 

"  redounded  as  a  flood  on  those 
From  whom  it  sprang," 

could  not  be  further  persevered  in. 

As  St.  Colme  was  passing  through  London  to  Scotland, 
Elizabeth  sent  with  him  a  short  letter  to  Mary  in  reply 
to  a  private  letter  of  hers  of  January  4th,  about  her  uncle, 
in  which  she  also  stated  that  she  had  no  leisure,  before 
St.  Colme's  departure,  to  answer  her  letter  on  the  treaty  ; 
but  the  longer  Elizabeth  pondered  the  Maitland-Mary 
letter,  how  to  frame  a  reply  must  only  have  puzzled  her 
the  more. 

With  a  view  of  helping  Elizabeth  out  of  her  pre- 
posterous   predicament,    and    of  staving    off  a  definite 

^  Labauoff,  i  123-7. 
VOL.    I.  14 


210 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


answer  on  the  main  question,  Cecil  now  began  to  hold 
out  hopes  of  an  interview.  CeciFs  opinion,  repeatedly 
urged,  was  evidently  a  plain  hint  as  to  Elizabeth's  wishes  ; 
and  ultimately  Maitland  thought  fit  to  reply  that  his 
sovereign  was  so  transported  with  affection,  that  "  she 
respects  nothing  so  she  may  meet  with  her  cousin  " — that 
she  was,  indeed,  more  earnestly  bent  on  the  interview  than 
her  councillors  dared  to  advise,  unless  there  were  some 
assurance  of  good  results  from  it.  Maitland  was  influenced 
mainly  by  Mary's  wishes.  She  was  eager,  impulsive  and 
rash,  and  she  had  no  knowledge  of  Elizabeth's  incapacity 
for  friendship  ;  but  Maitland  discerned  that  if,  after  all, 
Elizabeth  did  not  mean  business  on  fair  terms,  the  inter- 
view could  end  only  in  a  hopeless  quarrel. 

Meanwhile,  both  by  her  good  words "  and  her 
kindly  actions,  Mary  was  at  least  puzzling,  if  not  con- 
vincing, the  doubting  and  deeply  pondering  Randolph, 
who,  his  mind  much  relieved  that  the  Marquis  d'Elboeuf 
was  now  about  to  return  to  France,  was,  notwithstanding 
all  his  former  desperate  suspicions,  rather  disposed  to 
conjecture  her  meaning  to  be  good  than  suspect  the 
contrary  to  what  he  both  saw  and  heard. ^ 

It  was  now  even  currently,  though  doubtless  erroneously, 
reported  that  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  had  persuaded 
Mary  to  embrace  the  religion  of  England — a  comparatively 
mild  form  of  Protestantism  ;  and  the  report  was  making 
the  preachers  ronne  allmoste  wylde  :  of  the  which  theie 
bothe  saye  and  preache,  that  yt  is  lyttle  better  then  when 
yt  was  at  the  worste  !  "  "I  have  not,"  adds  Randolph, 
"  so  amplye  conferred  with  Mr.  Knox  in  these  matters, 
as  shortlye  I  muste  :  whoe  upon  Sunday  laste  gave  the 
*  Scottish  Papers,  i.  596. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH 


211 


crosse  and  the  candle  such  a  wype,  that  as  wyse  and 
lerned  as  hymself  wysshed  him  to  have  hylde  his  peace  ! 
He  recompcnced  the  same  with  a  mervilous  vehemente 
and  persinge  prayer  in  thende  of  his  sermonde,  for  the 
contynuance  of  amytie  and  hartie  love  with  England/'  ^ 
But,  of  course,  the  peaceful  and  united  Britain  for  which 
Knox  prayed  was  one  without  cross  or  candle,"  and  one 
in  which  he  hoped  that  the  young  girl,  his  sovereign, 
who  was  prepared,  apparently,  to  adopt  the  religion  of 
England,  might  have  neither  lot  nor  part. 

In  regard  to  the  interview,  however,  Randolph,  writing 
on  February  28  th,  thought  that  unless  Elizabeth  refused 
it,  it  would  pass  any  man's  power  in  Scotland  to  stay  it  :  ^ 
indeed  Randolph,  now  delivered  from  his  early  nightmare, 
seemed  both  desirous  and  hopeful  of  a  friendly  understand- 
ing between  Elizabeth  and  Mary.  But  on  the  same  day, 
Maitland  sent  to  Cecil  one  of  his  striking  letters,  which 
Cecil  must  have  read  with  somewhat  mixed  emotions.  He 
had,"  he  said,  "  in  a  maner  consecrated  himself  to  uniting 
this  isle  in  friendship."  He  had  "  pressed  "  this  purpose 
of  his  in  Queen  Mary's  days  "  [in  the  hope,  we 
must  believe,  that  the  Scottish  Mary,  and  not  Elizabeth, 
should  succeed  the  English  Mary],  and  already  he  had 
pressed  it  in  many  diverse  ways  in  Elizabeth's  time  ;  and 
ever,"  he  said,  as  one  occasion  doth  fayle  me,  I  begyn 
to  shuffle  the  cards  off  new,  alwayes  keping  the  same 
grownde."  ^ 

Maitland's  late  shuffling  of  the  cards  was  not  quite 
satisfactory  either  to  Elizabeth  or  Cecil  ;  but  they  had  to 
play  the  game  with  a  view  not  merely  to  a  temporary 

*  Scottish  Papers^  i.  603.  2  /^/^_,  607. 

^  Ibid.,  609-10. 


212  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


triumph,  but  to  the  final  result  ;  and  Maitland  and  Mary 
had  a  very  strong  hand. 

Thus,  whatever  Elizabeth's  suspicions  as  to  Mary  might 
be,  she  deemed  it  best  to  drop,  the  private  correspondence 
expedient,  which  clearly  promised  defeat,  and  to  take  up 
or  pretend  to  take  up  that  of  the  interview.  This  she 
seems  to  have  announced  in  good-humoured  and  even 
jocular  terms  to  Mary,  in  a  letter  which  was  handed  to  her 
in  the  presence  of  Randolph  on  March  28th.  Unhappily 
we  know  nothing  as  to  even  its  general  tenor.  She 
did  not  discuss  its  contents  with  Randolph,  but  he 
wrote  to  Cecil  that,  she  laughed  heartily  all  the  time  of 
reading  it,  after  which  she  said  she  was  much  beholden  to 
Elizabeth  for  sending  her  so  long  a  letter,  and  hoped  that 
when  they  saw  each  other,  she  would  better  know  her 
heart  than  she  judged  from  her  writings  :  which,  if  a  reply 
to  Elizabeth's  expression  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  Maitland- 
Mary  letter,  was  very  neatly  and  nicely  put. 

From  a  letter  of  Throckmorton's  of  March  31st,  we 
learn  that  the  Council  of  Scotland  were  rather  perplexed 
about  the  interview.  Unless  the  differences  between  Mary 
and  Elizabeth  were  previously  settled,  they  were  wholly 
averse  to  it  ;  and  there  were  also  other  difficulties,  which 
they  had  stated  by  St.  Colme  to  the  Duke  of  Guise,  one  of 
them  being  that  she  might,  after  all,  be  constrained  to  agree 
to  some  unreasonable  conditions.  The  Duke,  however, 
favoured  it,  though  suggesting  the  advisability  of  holding 
it  near  the  Borders  ;  ^  and  Mary  having  learned  that  the 
Cardinal  thought  it  convenient,^  it  was  resolved  to  proceed 
with  the  arrangements. 

Dr.  Hay  Fleming  affirms  that  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine 
^  Fo}\  Scr.,  iv.  No.  967.  ^  Scultish  Papers,  i,  630. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  213 


hesitated  to  give  his  consent;^  but  on  April  21st  the 
Bishop  of  Amiens  wrote  to  Mary  :  "  It  was  easy  for  your 
uncle  to  come  to  a  decision,  and  all  are  of  one  mind  in 
praising  the  interview  between  your  two  Majesties,  seeing 
therein  that  which  is  properly  due  to  you  not  only  there 
but  throughout  Christendom.  I  think  that  the  Queen  of 
England  has  so  much  good  judgment,  and  is  so  well  advised, 
that  therein  she  will  not  forget  anything."^ 

A  bad  accident  to  the  Queen,  whose  horse  fell  with 
her  between  Falkland  and  Lochleven,  delayed  her  return  to 
Edinburgh  ;  but  on  May  19th  the  Privy  Council  of  Scotland 
gave  their  advice  in  favour  of  the  interview,  on  condition 
that  proper  guarantees  were  obtained  for  the  safety  of  her 
person  ;^  and  on  the  25th  Maitland  set  out  for  England. 
The  cardinal  points  of  his  instructions  were  that  Mary 
was  not  to  be  pressed  with  any  matter  that  might  be 
prejudicial  to  the  realm,  and  that  he  was  to  seek  to  discover 
what  modification  in  the  treaty  Elizabeth  would  be  disposed 
to  agree  to,  it  being  understood  that  if  she  required  its 
ratification,  rigorously  as  it  stood,  the  meeting  could  not 
take  place.^ 

Maitland  professed  to  Mary  to  be  very  well  satisfied  with 
his  reception  by  Elizabeth,  and  advised  her  to  do  what 
she  could  to  stimulate  Elizabeth's  affection  by  writing  to 
her  as  "  gentle  and  loving  letters "  as  she  could  devise.^ 
This  Mary  was  quite  prepared  to  do,  but  the  religious 
trouble  in  France  had  already  begun  to  cast  a  sinister 
shadow  over  the  negotiations.  The  recrudescence  of  the 
political  influence  of  the  Guises  in  France,  made  possible 


^  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  71.  ^  Papal  Negotiations,  p.  447. 
3  Reg.  P.  C  i.  206.  ^  Keith,  ii.  142-4. 

^  Letter  in  Phllippson,  iii.  455-8. 


214  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


by  the  apostasy  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  tended  greatly  to 
strengthen  the  position  of  Mary  in  Scotland.  It  might 
also  lead  to  a  new  alliance  between  the  two  countries, 
and  it  encouraged  Catholic  hopes  both  in  Scotland  and 
England.  A  new  element  of  uncertainty  was  thus  intro- 
duced, and  Throckmorton,  who  had  formerly  advised  that 
Elizabeth  should,  if  possible,  come  to  an  amicable  under- 
standing with  Mary,  was  as  early  as  April  17th  expressing 
his  doubts  as  to  the  prudence  of  Elizabeth,  in  the  unsettled 
condition  of  French  affairs,  making  a  long  journey  from 
London  to  have  an  interview  with  the  Queen  of  Scots.^ 

The  Privy  Council  of  England  were  now,  on  account 
of  the  changed  situation  in  France,  also  opposed  to  the 
interview.  They  were  apparently,  in  this,  mainly  influenced 
by  dread  of  the  possible  dangers  to  Protestantism ;  but 
Elizabeth,  neither  so  deeply  interested  in  Protestantism 
as  her  Council  nor  so  straightforward  in  her  method  of 
dealing  with  her  political  difficulties,  was  not  moved  by 
their  strong  representations.  If  she  had  no  intention  of 
proceeding  with  the  interview,  she  told  that  to  no  one  ; 
or  if,  which  is  more  probable,  she  merely  intended  to 
make  use  of  the  interview  to  beguile  Mary,  she  gave  no 
sign  of  this,  except  possibly  to  Cecil,  and  resolved,  as 
before,  in  the  case  of  the  letter  device,  to  follow  her  own 
programme. 

To  Throckmorton,  Mary  lamented  her  uncles'  un- 
advised enterprise,"  of  the  success  of  which  she  appeared 
to  be  in  doubt,  and  which  would  in  any  case  tend,  as 
she  said,  to  make  Elizabeth  colder  towards  "  her  and 
hers."  She  discovered  in  it,  probably,  the  first  indication 
that  her  interests  and  theirs  might  not  always  coincide,  and 
^  For.  Ser.,  iv.  No.  10 15. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  215 


that  there  could  hardly  be  the  same  unity  as  of  old  in 
their  aims. 

On  June  loth  Maitland  wrote  that  if  the  troubles  in 
France  were  compounded,  or  ended,  by  the  close  of  June, 
the  meeting  would  take  place/  With  this  letter  Mary 
received  one  from  Elizabeth  which  pleased  her  so  much 
that  she  placed  it  "into  her  bosom  next  to  her  skin"  ; 
and  she  proposed  to  send  her  a  ringe  with  a  diamond 
fashioned  lyke  a  harte,"  and  to  express  the  signification 
of  the  symbol  by  "  wryting  in  a  fewe  verses."  ^  It 
is,  however,  worth  noting  that  Lord  James,  now  Earl  of 
Mar,  liked  the  resolution — unless  matters  mended  in  France 
— to  defer  the  interview  "  marvillous  well."  It  would 
be  better,  so  Randolph  reported  him  to  have  said,  for 
Elizabeth  to  defer  the  meeting  than  not  to  send  help  to 
the  Huguenots  against,  of  course,  Mary's  uncles  of  Guise  : 
"  as  he  saythe.  Amicus  Socrates^  amicus  Plato^  magis  arnica 
Veritas''  ^ 

About  the  end  of  June,  news  having  reached  Elizabeth 
that  peace  would  be  made  with  the  Prince  of  Conde,  it 
was  agreed,  on  July  6th,  that  the  meeting  should  take 
place  at  York,  or,  in  default  thereof,  at  some  convenient 
place  between  it  and  the  river  Trent,  at  some  date  between 
August  20th  and  September  20th.  With  this  joyful  news 
Maitland  returned  to  Mary,  who  immediately  began  to 
make  preparations  for  her  journey,  sending  out  letters  on 
July  15th  to  all  her  nobility  to  meet  her  with  speed  at 
Edinburgh/    With  Maitland,  Elizabeth  sent  to  Mary  her 

^  Philippson,  iii.  456. 

'  Scottish  Papers,  i.  632 ;  Mary's  intention  of  sending  a  ring  is  referred 
to  as  early  as  February. 

'  Ibid.,  633.  "  Ibid.,  640. 


11 6  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


portrait.  She  enquired  of  Randolph,  How  lyke  thys 
was  unto  her  lyvelye  face  ?  "  who,  he  says,  trusted  her 
Grace  would  shortly  be  judge  therof  her  self,  and  fynde 
myche  more  perfection  than  coulde  be  sette  forthe  with 
the  art  of  man."  This,  said  Mary,  was  the  thing  she 
had  always  most  desired,  and  she  hoped  that  when  they 
had  spoken,  their  hearts  would  be  so  eased  that  "  the  greatest 
greef  that  ever  after  shalbe  betweene  us,  wylbe  when  wee 
shall  tayke  leave  thone  of  thother."  ^ 

It  is  hardly  likely  that  these  ecstasies  of  Mary,  ex- 
aggerated and  artificial  as  in  some  sense  they  were,  were 
absolutely  hypocritical  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  seem  to  show 
that  she  desired,  if  possible,  both  to  win  EHzabeth's  friend- 
ship and  to  give  her  her  own.  This  also  appears  to  have 
been  the  policy  which  her  uncles  of  Guise  hoped  she  would 
pursue.  The  Queen  of  England,"  wrote  to  Mary  the  Bishop 
of  Amiens,  who  enjoyed  their  confidence,  "  among  other 
great  virtues,  has  ever  made  herself  respected  in  Christendom 
for  being  a  princess  of  her  word,  and  makes  it  evident 
that  she  desires  your  good  favour  and  friendship.  Madame, 
I  feel  assured  of  this,  that  your  presence  will  increase  her 
desire  to  remain  your  good,  firm  and  stable  friend." 

Dr.  Hay  Fleming  has  remarked  that  while  Maitland 
affirmed  to  Cecil  and  Randolph  that  Mary  was  in  earnest 
in  seeking  Elizabeth's  friendship,  he  told  to  the  Spanish 
ambassador  "  a  somewhat  different  tale."  ^  But  this  was  as 
late  as  March,  1563,  and  even  so,  it  was  hardly  a  different 
tale.  True,  he  said  that  the  Queen  of  Scots,  by  the  time 
he  spoke,  understood  that  these  unfulfilled  hopes  had 
for  their  object  to  keep  her  in  suspense  and  doubt  about 
the  marriage,  and  even  to  force  her  into  a  match  with  the 
^  Scottish  Papers^  i.  639.  ^  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  73. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  217 

Earl  of  Arran,  or  a  still  meaner  suitor.'*^  But  neither 
Maitland  nor  Mary  could  understand  this  until  after 
Elizabeth  had  deferred  the  interview  ;  the  anxiety  of  both 
Maitland  and  Mary  for  it  was  evidently  quite  sincere, 
and  they  hoped  for  the  best. 

Later  the  designs  of  Elizabeth  began  more  clearly  to 
manifest  themselves  ;  and  even  then  Mary,  as  Maitland 
said,  did  her  best  to  continue  somehow  on  the  present 
footing  of  friendship "  with  Elizabeth,  in  the  hope  that 
if  Elizabeth  found  herself  embarrassed  by  France,  she 
might  be  glad  of  the  intervention  of  the  Scots  Queen, 
and  the  agreement  might  be  effected  between  them  at  the 
same  time "  ;  but  until  Elizabeth  had  clearly  shown  her 
hopeless  falsity,  Mary  was,  seemingly,  disposed  to  beheve 
in  the  possibiHty  of  winning  her  friendship. 

In  the  way  of  Maitland's  desired  consummation  there 
were  of  course  immense  difficulties — difficulties  by  reason 
of  the  strange  idiosyncrasy  of  Elizabeth,  difficulties  on 
the  part  of  the  English  Council  and  the  English  Parliament, 
difficulties  on  account  of  differences  in  religion,  difficulties 
arising  from  the  question  of  marriage  ;  but  had  not  Mary's 
uncles  of  Guise — who  hoped  that  Elizabeth's  anxiety  to 
be  on  good  terms  with  their  niece  would  debar  her  from 
interfering  with  their  projects  in  France — cut  somewhat 
before  the  point,  the  interview  must  have  taken  place. 
What  might  have  come  of  it,  it  is  idle  to  speculate  ;  but 
though  Elizabeth  could  hardly  have  hoped  so  much  by 
it  for  herself,  as  for  herself  Mary  hoped  to  achieve,  its 
postponement  marks  another  turning  point  in  Mary's  career. 

The  rivalry  of  the  two  queens  was  neither  to  be 
moderated,  nor  destroyed,  nor  confirmed  by  personal 
^  Spanish  State  Papers ^  1558-67,  p.  307. 


21 8  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


intercourse  with  each  other  ;  and  whoever  was  to  blame 
for  the  postponement  of  their  meeting,  it  was  from 
Elizabeth  that  the  decision  as  to  postponement  always 
came.  At  the  very  time  that  Randolph  was  penning  his 
account  of  Mary's  anticipatory  flutterings,  Elizabeth  was 
setting  about  the  preparation  of  the  postponement  message. 
But  this  change  of  intention  can  hardly  be  attributed  to 
caprice. 

Writing  on  July  17th,  the  Duchess  of  Parma  relates 
the  arrival  some  days  previously  of  news  from  Throck- 
morton of  "  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities  between  the 
King  of  France  and  the  rebels  "  ;  ^  and  in  sending  Sidney 
on  July  15th  to  announce  to  Mary  the  postponement  of 
the  interview,  Elizabeth  affirmed  that  the  renewal  of 
hostilities  in  France  was  due  to  an  act  of  treachery  on 
the  part  of  the  Duke  of  Guise.' 

According  to  Sidney,  who  had  an  interview  with  Mary 
on  the  23rd,  Mary  manifested  her  grief  at  the  post- 
ponement not  only  in  woordys  but  in  countenans  and 
watery  eyes'';  and,  but  for  the  fact  that  she  had  some 
previous  "  inkling  "  of  his  message  from  Mar  and  Maitland, 
she  would  have  shown  her  sorrow  much  more,  the  bad 
news  having  deferred  his  interview  for  a  day  and  driven 
her  into  such  a  passion  of  disappointment  that  she  took 
to  her  bed.  Nevertheless  she  proposed  to  accept  Elizabeth's 
considerations  as  reasonable,  and  anticipated  with  great 
pleasure  the  prospect  of  an  interview  in  the  following 
year.  In  order  to  satisfy  Mary  that  she  was  in  earnest, 
Elizabeth  suggested  that  it  should  take  place  at  York  or  at 
Elizabeth's  castles  of  Pomfret  or  Nottingham,  at  any  time 
between  May  30th  and  the  last  day  of  August  following, 
^  Spanish  State  Papers,  1558-67,  p.  254.  '  Keith,  ii.  149. 


SCOTLAND  AND  ELIZABETH  219 


the  time  and  place  which  Mary  preferred,  to  be  intimated 
to  her  before  the  last  of  "  August  next,"  Elizabeth 
accepting  before  the  last  of  October."  According  to 
Maitland,  Mary  would  have  accepted  Elizabeth's  proposal 
out  of  hand,  but  on  his  advice  it  was  determined  first  to 
consult  the  Council/ 

The  Council,  while  on  August  15th  declaring  that 
nothing  had  altered  their  opinion  as  to  the  possible 
advantages  of  the  meeting,  were  even  more  chary  than 
before  in  expressing  an  opinion  as  to  whether  it  was  safe 
to  "  commit  hir  body  in  England,"  and  therefore  referred 
the  place  of  meeting  and  the  security  to  herself.^  Mary 
thereupon  resolved  to  comply  with  Elizabeth's  suggestion, 
and  at  Perth  ratified,  on  August  20th,  the  old  conditions 
for  the  interview,  fixing  it  co  take  place  on  June  20th 
in  the  city  of  York.^  But  she  had  then  no  anticipation 
that  in  a  few  months  Elizabeth  would,  in  France,  be 
waging  war  against  her  uncles. 

^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  641-42.  '  Reg.  P.  C,  i.  217. 

'  LabanofT,  150-6. 


CHAPTER  V 


HAMILTON S  AND  GORDONS 

MARY'S  position  as  a  Catholic  sovereign  carrying  on 
her  government,  if  she  was  really  carrying  it 
on,  by  means  of  officers  of  state  avowedly  Protestant, 
and  ruling  a  people  the  Protestant  portion  of  which, 
mainly  by  their  determination  and  ardour,  had  an  apparent 
ascendancy,  was  not  only  quite  anomalous  :  it  was,  on 
account  of  the  rigidity  of  Scottish  Protestatism,  under 
the  rampant  direction  of  Knox,  both  humiliating  and 
perilous.  But  Mary  may  at  first  have  realised  but  im- 
perfectly the  peculiarities  of  her  position  ;  and  at  any  rate, 
except  for  temporary  exhibitions  of  irritation  and  distress, 
there  was  little  sign  that  her  political  or  ecclesiastical 
difficulties  greatly  troubled  her  youthful  good  spirits. 

Mary's  anticipations  of  the  future  were,  we  must  suppose, 
coloured  in  the  main  with  the  roseate  hue  peculiar  to 
her  period  of  life  ;  her  horizon,  if  not  unclouded,  was 
not  as  yet  troubled  or  threatening.  She  had,  it  is  true, 
no  certain  assurance  of  the  fulfilment  of  her  more  splendid 
ambitions  ;  but,  light  of  heart  and  strong  of  purpose,  she 
did  not  permit  her  hopes  to  be  smothered  by  anxieties. 
The  time  had  not,  as  yet,  come  for  any  decided  parting 
of  the  ways  as  regards  anything  of  importance — her 
marriage,  her  relations  with  Elizabeth  and  England,  the 

220 


HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS  221 


final  trust  to  be  placed  in  her  brother,  the  religious  con- 
stitution of  her  State,  or  possibly  even  her  own  religious 
profession.  All  the  early  arrangements  as  to  the  character 
of  her  rule  in  Scotland  were  tentative,  and,  it  might  be 
transitory  ;  her  eyes  were  directed  towards  a  variety  of 
possibilities  and  some  kind  of  transformation  scene  which 
would  reveal  to  her  a  new  world. 

Meanwhile,  Mary,  with  youthful  lightheartedness,  was 
resolved  to  have  as  good  a  time  as  her  present  circumstances 
would  permit.  Strikingly  though  her  new  surroundings 
contrasted  with  the  brightness  and  splendour  of  France, 
there  was  in  their  rudeness  and  roughness  a  certain  novel 
piquancy  ;  and  hardy  and  resolute,  notwithstanding  her 
luxurious  upbringing,  she  resolved  to  make  the  best  of 
them.  In  France  she  had  learned  to  appreciate  outdoor 
sports  and  amusements,  and  for  these,  at  least,  she  had  in 
Scotland  ample  opportunity.  While  within  easy  reach  of 
some  of  her  palaces  there  were  extensive  lowland  forests, 
she  was  accustomed  also  to  attend  the  gatherings,  organised 
by  the  Highland  nobles,  in  the  wild  mountainous  regions 
for  the  hunting  of  the  deer  ;  and  for  almost  daily  occupa- 
tion she  had  the  fascinating  pastime  of  hawking.  One 
of  her  favourite  outdoor  games  was  shooting  at  the 
butts  ;  and  she  was  also  accustomed  to  play  at  pall-mall, 
and  even  at  golf,  though,  we  must  suppose,  hardly  in  the 
accomplished  fashion  of  the  modern  lady  golfer. 

The  custom  of  running  at  the  ring  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  practised  much  by  the  Scottish  nobility  ;  but  on 
Sunday,  November  30th,  1561,  a  special  display  of  this 
exciting  amusement  took  place,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Marquis  d'Elboeuf,  on  the  Sands  of  Leith,  among 
others  who  took  part  in  it  being  her  half-brothers,  Lord 


222  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 

Robert  and  Lord  John.  They  ran,  says  Randolph,  "  six 
against  six,  disguised  and  apparelled,  the  one  half  like 
women,  the  other  like  strangers,  in  strange  masking 
garments.  The  Marquis  that  day  did  very  well  ;  but  the 
women,  whose  part  the  Lord  Robert  did  sustain,  won  the 
ring.  The  Queen  herself  beheld  it,  and  as  many  others 
as  listed."  ^ 

Sunday  amusements  of  this  character  were  of  course 
quite  in  accordance  with  French  custom  ;  nor  had  the 
new  Puritanico-Jewish  method  of  Sunday  observance 
as  yet — notwithstanding  certain  recent  statutes  of  the 
Edinburgh  magistrates^ — become  estabhshed  amongst 
Scottish  Protestants.  Whether  there  were  many  spectators, 
we  are  not  told,  but  the  gay  d'Elboeuf  and  the  grave 
and  Protestant  Randolph,  who  was  a  spectator,  found,  at 
their  first  interview  with  each  other,  a  pleasant  topic  for 
conversation  on  the  feats  of  that  day  ;  and  it  may  be  that 
Knox,  who,  it  would  appear,  was  silent  on  the  subject  in 
his  sermons,  had  he  passed  that  way  would  not  have 
turned  away  his  eyes  from  beholding  the  bright  and  spirit- 
stirring  spectacle.  On  the  Friday  and  Saturday  following, 
Mary  had  solemn  masses  performed  in  memory  of  her 
husband,  and  again,  on  the  Sunday  following,  there  was  a 
repetition  of  the  mirth  and  pastime  on  the  Sands  of  Leith.^ 
"  At  the  first  anniversary  of  her  husband's  death,"  remarks 
Dr.  Hay  Fleming  "  the  Scottish  court  seems  to  have  been 
particularly  joyous"  but  the  sarcasm  is  founded  on  a 
lack  of  acquaintance  with  French  customs.  Even  yet,  the 
day  annually  dedicated  in  Paris  to  mourning  for  the  dead 
is  succeeded  by  feasting  and  mirth. 

^  Keith,  ii.  120.  ^  Burgh  Records  of  Edinburgh,  1551-71,  p.  85. 
'  Scottish  PaJ>ers^  i-  579*  *  M<^0'  of  Scots,  p.  58. 


From  the  picture  by  Francis  Pourbiis,  in  the  possession  of  the  Royal  Society. 

GEORGE  BUCHANAN. 


HAMILTONS  and  GORDONS  223 


During  the  long  winter  evenings  there  was  for  Mary, 
besides  her  needlework,  the  recreation  of  dice  and  the  cards 
for  which  she,  for  a  time,  developed  a  passion.  She  had 
doubtless  also,  at  some  period  of  the  day,  a  few  quiet 
hours  which  she  devoted  to  reading  and  study,  or  the 
practice  of  music  ;  after  dinner  she  was  accustomed  to  read 
Latin  under  the  direction  of  George  Buchanan.  She  also 
brought  with  her  from  France  the  game  of  billiards  ;  and 
in  a  game  in  1565  with  her  and  Lord  Darnley  as 
partners  against  the  famous  beauty,  Mary  Beaton,  and 
Randolph,  the  latter  were  the  winners.^ 

In  Mary's  time  there  was  no  place  of  public  amusement 
in  Edinburgh,  nor  is  there  any  indication  of  her  patronage 
of  rope-dancers,  or  players,  or  similar  public  performers  ; 
her  principal  indoor  social  recreations  were  the  masques  and 
dancings  by  which  banquets  were  usually  followed,  and  in 
which  she  usually  herself  took  part.  As  a  change  from 
the  gaiety  and  publicity  of  the  court,  she  was  accustomed, 
occasionally,  to  retire  to  the  quietude  of  St.  Andrews, 
where  she  made  a  show  of  renouncing  her  sovereign  cares 
and  occupations,  and  living  as  a  plain  burgess  wife.  But 
she  was  in  nowise  addicted  to  moroseness  and  gloom. 
"  Her  common  talk,"  writes  Knox,  was,  in  secreat,  sche 
saw  nothing  in  Scotland  but  gravitie,  which  repuyned  allto- 
gether  to  hir  nature,  for  sche  was  brocht  up  in  joyusitie ; 
so  termed  sche  her  dansing,  and  other  thinges  thaireto 
belonging."  ^  What  these  were,  Knox  wisely  preferred  to 
hint  rather  than  specify  ;  but  the  actual  fact  was  that 
Mary  had  been  continuing  to  conduct  herself  with  a 
prudence  and  propriety  which  were  the  despair  of  Knox, 
who  was  conscientiously  resolved  to  ruin  or  to  rule 
*  Scottish  Papers  ii.  142.  2  Works,  ii.  294, 


224 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


her  :  his  very  vague,  though  violent,  references  to 
Scouparis,  dansaris  and  dalliaris  of  dames,"  are  evidence 
sufficient  that  his  prejudices  were  stronger  than  his  facts. 

Mary  was  not  greatly  tied  by  conventions  ;  her  manners 
were  frank  and  friendly,  and  she  greatly  delighted  in  the 
accomplished  art  of  dancing,  for  which  she  had  a  peculiar 
genius  ;  but  her  main  protection  in  her  novel  and  difficult 
position  w^as  her  latent  sovereign  reserve. 

Major  Martin  Hume  ^  ventures  to  promulgate  the 
theory  that  the  main  source  of  Mary's  fascination  was  her 
power  of  sensuous  allurement.  Such  a  theory  would  doubt- 
less elucidate  to  the  meanest  understanding  the  Chatelard 
incident,  and  the  Rizzio,  Darnley,  and  Bothwell  episodes  ; 
but  it  seems  to  me  to  be  inconsistent  with  what  is  generally 
recorded  of  the  impression  she  produced  on  those  who 
came  into  close  contact  v/ith  her.  Even  Knox  hints  at 
nothing  of  the  kind  ;  and  in  a  remarkable  passage — which 
has  been  curiously  overlooked  by  her  champions — he,  as  late 
as  1566,  while  affirming,  probably  on  no  adequate  evidence, 
that  her  dame  heard  more  than  we  will  wryte," 
ventures  to  say  nothing  more  definite  of  Mary,  confirmed 
"idolater"  though  she  was,  than  that  "what  sche  was  and 
is,  herselff  best  knows,  and  God  (we  doubt  not)  will 
declair."  ' 

Randolph  also,  much  as  he  dreaded  her  cleverness,  makes 
no  reference  to  the  quality  propounded  by  Major  Martin 
Hume  ;  indeed  he  came  to  have  a  very  high  estimate  of 
her  womanly  gifts  and  graces,  though  she  in  no  way 
succeeded  in  turning  his  head. 

The  most  noticeable  characteristic  of  Mary's  intercourse 
with  her  nobles  and  officials  was,  in  fact,  her  free  and  open 
^  Love  A£'airs,  p.  5.  ^  Works,  ii.  319. 


HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS  225 


friendliness,  without  the  least  touch  of  coquetry.  She 
prepossessed  them  in  her  favour  by  her  tact  and  good 
nature,  and  secured  their  goodwill  by  her  own  self-respect. 
Indeed,  had  she  been  the  exact  type  of  woman  Major  Hume 
supposes,  it  would,  from  the  time  of  her  arrival,  have  been 
a  very  "mad  world"  in  Scotland;  but  one  of  the  most 
surprising  circumstances  of  her  earlier  sovereignty  was, 
considering  her  great  powers  of  fascination  had  she  cared 
to  exercise  them,  the  manner  in  which  she  kept  free  from 
love-entanglements  with  the  eager  young  Scottish  nobles, 
and  avoided  encouraging  delusive  hopes  in  those  who  were 
overweeningly  ambitious. 

In  this  connection,  considerable  confusion  has  arisen 
through  a  general  misinterpretation  of  the  story  of  the 
enchantment  whereby  men  are  bewitched,"  a  misinter- 
pretation from  which  even  Dr.  Hay  Fleming,  meticulously 
interested  in  correctness  of  detail  though  he  be,  has  not 
escaped.  Dr.  Fleming  refers  to  it  thus  :  ^'  there  being 
about  her,  as  the  godly  Kingzeancleucht  supposed,  '  some 
inchantment  whareby  men  are  bewitched.'  "  ^  But  Kingzean- 
cleucht supposed  no  such  thing  as  this  :  what  he  actually 
said  was,  I  have  bene  here  now  fyve  dayis,  and  at  the  first 
I  hard  everie  man  say,  ^  Let  us  hang  the  Preast  *  ;  but 
after  that  thai  had  been  twyse  or  thrise  in  the  Abbay, 
all  that  fervency  was  past.  I  think  thair  be  some  inchant- 
ment whareby  men  are  bewitched."  "  He  thought  there 
might  be,  not  figurative  or  personal,  but  actual  and  im- 
personal, sorcery  in  the  business.  The  comments  of  Knox 
indicate  this  clearly  enough  :  And  in  verray  deed,"  he 
writes,  "  so  it  came  to  pass  ;  for  the  Queen's  flattering 
words,  upoun  the  ane  pairte,  ever  still  crying,  *  Conscience, 

^  Mary  Queen  of  Scots^  p.  48.         '  Knox,  ii.  227. 
VOL.  I.  15 


226 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


conscience  :  it  is  a  sore  thing  to  constreane  the  conscience  *  ; 
and  the  subtile  persuasionis  of  hir  suppositis  (we  mean  evin 
of  such  as  were  judged  most  fervent  with  us)  upoun  the 
other  parte  blynded  all  men,  and  putt  thame  in  this  opinion, 
sche  will  be  content  to  hear  the  preaching."  That  was  the 
whole  matter  of  the  enchantment,  and  Lord  James  and 
Maitland  had  a  share  in  it  as  well  as  Mary. 

The  Scottish  family  which,  immediately  after  her 
arrival  in  Scotland,  gave  Mary  most  annoyance  was  the 
Hamiltons.  While  in  France,  Mary,  as  we  have  seen, 
proposed  to  her  mother  a  marriage  between  Arran  and 
Mademoiselle  de  Bouillon,  daughter  of  Diana  of  Poitiers. 
We  are  not  told  what  either  her  mother,  or  Arran  or  the 
Duke,  thought  of  this  way  of  disposing  of  the  hand  of 
him,  who  supposed  himself  next  heir  after  Mary  to  the 
Scottish  crown  ;  but  the  hopes  of  the  Hamiltons  were  not 
so  lowly  as  to  agree  to  any  such  alliance. 

Arran  had,  as  we  have  seen,  been  rejected  in  dubious 
terms  by  Elizabeth,  just  before  the  death  of  Francis  11. , 
and,  immediately  on  the  news  of  the  death,  the  old  purpose 
of  the  Duke  of  marrying  him  to  Mary  was  at  once  revived. 
It  was  now  the  main  hope  of  the  Protestants,  though  the 
likelihood  of  any  such  event  was,  says  Randolph,  agaynste 
thopinion  of  all  the  doctors."  ^  Arran,  who  seems  to  have 
been  enamoured  of  Mary,  could  hardly  have  committed 
an  act  of  greater  imprudence  than  to  presume  to  make  offer 
to  her  of  the  hand,  which  only  a  few  weeks  before  had  been 
rejected  by  Elizabeth  :  and  the  arrival  of  Mary  in  Scotland 
after  Arran's  suit  had  been  refused,  looked  like  the  final 
blow  to  the  highest  Hamilton  ambitions. 

The  Hamiltons  and  their  friends  formed,  thus,  a  nucleus 
^  Scottish  Papers^  i.  523. 


From  an  old  engraving. 

JAMES  HAMILTON,  THIRD  EARL  OF  ARRAX. 


HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS  227 


of  discontent,  which  Knox  no  doubt  would  have  appealed 
to,  had  he  resolved  that  Mary's  Mass  should  be  put  down  by 
force.  Apparently  Arran  wished  to  foment  the  opposition 
to  Mary's  Mass  for  purposes  of  his  own  :  the  Duke  resolved 
not  to  come  to  the  court  unless  sent  for,  and  Arran 
expressed  his  intention  of  staying  away  as  long  as  the 
Mass  remained.  While  he  was  ostentatiously  posing  as 
a  malcontent,  a  rumour  arose  on  November  i6th  that 
he  had  crossed  the  frith  with  a  strong  company  to  carry 
Mary  off ;  but  the  report  was  at  least  premature,  and, 
according  to  Randolph,  it  originated  in  a  rash  speech  of  his 
in  crossing  the  frith.  Why  is  yt  not  as  easye  to  tayke 
her  owte  of  the  Abbaye,  as  ons  yt  was  intended  to  have  byne 
done  unto  her  mother  ? 

While  matters  with  Arran  were  in  a  condition  which, 
on  account  of  his  mental  instability,  were  rapidly  becoming 
deplorable,  the  situation  became  further  complicated  by  a 
wild  frolic  of  d'Elboeuf,  Bothwell,  and  Lord  John,  who 
forcibly  entered  a  merchant's  house  in  pursuit  of  a  good, 
handsome  wenche,"  supposed  to  be  Arran's  mistress.  The 
unseemly  incident  aroused  much  indignation  amongst  the 
extreme  Protestants,  who  desired  to  make  it  the  occasion  of 
disgracing  d'Elboeuf. 

Mary  could  hardly  be  expected  to  inflict  severe  punish- 
ment on  her  uncle,  but  she  severely  reproved  the  roisterers, 
whereupon  Bothwell  and  Lord  John  swore  that  next  night 
they  would  do  the  like,  in  despite  of  any  one  that  would  say 
them  nay.  ^  Learning  of  their  boast,  the  Hamiltons  assembled 
in  the  market-place,  with  jack  and  spear,  to  be  ready  for  the 
fray  ;  but  while  Bothwell  was  still  in  his  lodgings  assembling 
his  supporters,  the  common  bell  was  rung.  Lord  James, 
*  Scottish  Papers,  i.  569.  2  /^/^^^ 


228 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Argyll,  and  Huntly,  representing  the  Queen,  appeared  on 
the  scene,  and  proclamation  having  been  made  that  every 
one  should  depart  to  his  home  on  pain  of  death,  within 
half  an  hower  thereafter  ther  was  never  a  man  seen."  ^ 

Next  day,  the  Duke  and  Bothwell  were  summoned  to 
the  court,  when  the  Protestants  convoyed  the  one  and  the 
Catholics  the  other  ;  but,  to  avoider  cumber,"  Bothwell 
agreed  to  leave  the  town. 

Meanwhile  Arran  was  proposing  to  return  to  France, 
where  Protestantism  was  supposed  to  be  now  in  the 
ascendant  ;  but  on  January  17th  he  went  to  Linlithgow 
and  made  his  peace  with  the  Queen.-  On  February  8th, 
he  condescended  to  be  present  at  the  marriage  of  Lord 
James  (Earl  of  Mar)  to  the  daughter  of  the  Earl- 
Marischal  ;  but  next  day  he  fell  sick,  and  so  remained 
during  the  rest  of  the  festivities. 

Randolph,  who  had  had  a  good  deal  of  talk  with  both 
father  and  son,  wrote  on  February  28th  that  while  the 
father  was  so  inconstant,  saving  in  greed  and  covetousness, 
that  in  three  moments  he  would  take  five  purposes,  the 
son  was  "  so  drowned  in  dreames  and  so  feedethe  hymself 
with  fantasies,  that  either  men  feare  that  he  wyll  fawle 
into  some  dayngerus  and  incurable  sycknes,  or  playe,  one 
daye,  some  made  parte  that  wyll  brynge  hymself  to 
myschef."  ^ 

The  next  step  in  Arran's  eccentric  behaviour  was  his 
reconciliation  with  Bothwell.  Efforts  had  been  made  both 
by  the  Queen  and  Council  to  bring  this  about  ;  but  while 
Bothwell  was  willing  to  meet  Arran  half  way,  Arran  was  not 
in  a  condition  of  mind  to  be  reconciled  to  anybody,  and 
least  of  all  to  Bothwell,  his  hatred  against  whom  "  I  see," 

^  Knox,  ii.  322.  ^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  597.  ^  Ibid.,  609. 


HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS  229 


wrote  Randolph,  "is  immortal."^  All  that  he  could  be 
induced  to  do,  was  to  come  under  obligations  to  keep  the 
peace  to  him  ;  ^  but  Bothwell,  bent  on  a  full  reconciliation, 
sought  for  this  purpose  the  good  offices  of  Knox,  who 
was  bound  to  Bothwell  by  what  Knox  terms  the  **  obliga- 
tions of  our  Scottish  kindness "  [kinness],  his  ancestors 
having  been  feudal  dependants  of  the  earl's  predecessors. 
When  Knox  succeeded  finally  in  arranging  an  interview 
between  them,  Arran,  without  waiting  for  Bothwell's 
apologies,  cordially  embraced  him,  saying,  "  Yf  the  hearttis 
be  uprycht  few  ceremonyes  may  serve  and  content  me."  ^ 

The  result  of  Arran's  frankness  was  that,  from  being 
mortal  enemies,  the  two  strangely  assorted  earls  appeared  to 
become,  almost  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  inseparable 
friends,  all  Edinburgh  and  most  of  Scotland  being  in 
wonder  at  their  sudden  familiarity,  "  at  preachings,  hunting, 
and  otherwhere." 

On  Thursday,  March  26th,  they  dined  together,  after 
which  Bothwell,  with  Gavin  Hamilton,  went  to  the  Duke's 
house  at  Kinneil.  Next  day,  Arran  appeared  before  Knox 
in  great  distress,  affirming  that  Bothwell  had  suggested  to 
him  a  plot  for  removing  the  Queen  to  the  Castle  of  Dum- 
barton and  slaying  Lord  James,  Lethington,  and  others 
that  "  now  misguide  her."  Knox,  who  perceived  that  he 
was  "  stricken  with  frenzy,"  sought  to  soothe  him  as  well  as 
he  could,  and  advised  him  that,  since  he  had,  as  he  said, 
refused  to  entertain  Bothwell's  proposal,  it  would  be  better 
to  do  nothing  further  in  the  meanwhile  ;  but  Arran,  with 
insane  obstinacy,  persisted  in  his  purpose  of  revealing 
Bothwell's  treason,  and,  after  writing  a  letter  to  the  Queen, 

^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  585.  2  j^^g  p  c  j  203. 

^  Knox,  Works,  ii.  325. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


who  was  at  Falkland,  rode  to  Kitineil.  There,  after 
an  unpleasant  scene  with  his  father,  whom  he  afterwards 
accused  of  favouring  Bothwell's  plot,  he  was,  on  going 
to  his  bedroom,  locked  in  ;  but  he  made  his  escape  on 
Easter  Eve  from  the  house,  by  tying  together  the  sheets 
of  his  bed,  and,  attired  only  in  his  doublet  and  hose, 
arrived  at  the  house  of  the  laird  of  Grange,  near  Burntisland, 
on  the  morning  of  Easter  Tuesday,  when,  besides  telling 
his  story  against  Bothwell  and  his  father,  he  began,  says 
Randolph,  to  rave  and  speak  of  strange  purposes,  "  as  of 
divels,  witches  and  such  lyke."  ^ 

It  was  only  too  evident  that  Arran  was  out  of  his  wits  ; 
but  both  he  and  his  father  had,  since  Mary's  arrival  in 
Scotland,  been  behaving  in  such  a  manner  as  to  arouse 
strong  suspicions  in  regard  to  their  loyalty,  while  Bothwell's 
readiness  for  any  wild  enterprise  against  Lord  James  was 
not  difficult  to  credit.  According,  also,  to  Randolph, 
when  Bothwell  arrived  to  purge  himself  he  was  found  guilty, 
on  his  own  confession,  in  some  points.^  When  brought 
before  the  Council,  Arran  persisted  in  his  accusation  against 
Bothwell,  but  finally  withdrew  his  whole  charge  against 
his  father  ;  and  it  would  appear  that  there  was  now  in 
his  mad  brain  some  hope  that  his  revelation  of  Bothwell's 
purpose,  would  help  him  towards  his  marriage  to  the 
Queen. ^ 

Though  no  credit  could  be  given  to  Arran's  wild  talk,  it 
was  determined  to  confine  him,  mainly,  apparently,  to  hold 
the  Hamiltons  in  check.  As  Randolph  puts  it,  Mary  must 
have  ofte  wysshed  in  her  harte  for  no  worce  occasion 
than  nowe  she  hathe,  to  do  with  hym  as  she  dothe." 

As  for  the  poor  old  Duke,  no  one  was  much  in  dread 
1  Scottish  Papers,  i.  614.       ^  j^^       3  juj^  615.  Ibid.,  620. 


HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS 


of  him  personally  ;  and  all  that  was  demanded  of  him  was 
the  deliverance  to  the  Queen  of  Dumbarton  Castle.  On 
May  14th  Arran,  Bothwell,  and  Gavin  Hamilton,  com- 
mendator  of  Kilwinning,  were  brought  from  St.  Andrews 
to  Edinburgh  Castle,  Arran  riding  in  the  Queen's  carriage 
on  account  of  his  frenzy.^  Bothwell,  a  few  months  after- 
wards, made  his  escape  and  lived  to  take  part  in  more 
stirring  events  ;  but  Arran's  public  career  was  at  an  end, 
and,  though  he  survived  Mary  by  over  twenty  years,  he 
never  permanently  recovered  his  wits.  The  Duke,  who, 
when  brought  before  the  Queen  at  St.  Andrews,  had 
lamented  his  own  and  his  son's  hard  case,  with  "  teares 
tritlinge  from  his  cheekes,"  as  if  he  had  been  a  beaten 
child,  ^  had  now  not  only  lost  his  game,  but  lost  it  in  a 
manner  pitiable  almost  beyond  words  ;  and  in  a  few  years 
his  disappointment  was  to  be  rendered  still  more  bitter 
by  Mary's  marriage  to  the  son  of  Lennox. 

As  for  Mary,  we  have  the  testimony  of  Randolph  that, 
from  the  time  of  her  arrival  in  Scotland,  she  had  been 
conducting  herself  towards  the  Hamiltons  with  the  utmost 
forbearance,  knowing  how  many  they  are  and  how 
allied "  ;  ^  and  it  must  have  been  an  inexpressible  relief 
to  her  to  be  delivered  from  further  overtures  of  marriage 
from  Arran,  all  the  more  that  it  was  supposed  that  he 
was  the  suitor  EHzabeth  intended  to  press  upon  her  in 
connection  with  the  treaty  negotiations. 

Next  to  the  Hamiltons,  the  Scottish  family  which  was 
the  cause  of  most  perplexity  to  Mary  was  the  Gordons. 
While  the  Hamiltons  were  embarrassing  on  account  of  their 
Protestant  pretences,  the  Gordons  were  so  by  reason  of 

1  Diurnal  of  Occurents,  p.  72.  2  Scottish  Papers^  i.  619. 

3  Ibid.,  617. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


their  endeavours  to  force  her  hand  in  regard  to  Catholicism ; 
and  both  had  ulterior  ends  to  serve  which  were  incompatible 
with  Mary's  purposes.  Whatever,  also,  her  final  aim, 
she  was  determined  to  effect  it  in  her  own  way  and  allow 
her  hand  to  be  forced  by  no  one. 

In  December,  1561,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  told 
the  Cardinal  Commendone  that  his  niece  had  written  to 
the  Pope  a  letter  in  which  she  made  "  him  professions 
of  the  greatest  readiness  rather  to  die  than  swerve  from 
obedience  to  his  Holiness,  and  the  Apostolic  see "  ;  ^  but 
she  was  clearly  becoming  more  and  more  desirous  to  allay 
the  anxieties  of  the  Protestants  as  to  her  ultimate  intentions, 
while,  also,  she  doubtless  wished  to  do  nothing  that 
might  awaken  suspicion  in  Elizabeth,  as  to  the  sincerity 
of  her  professions  of  friendship.  In  these  circumstances, 
the  resolution  of  the  Pope  to  send  to  her  de  Gouda  on 
a  Special  Mission  must  have  been  particularly  embarrassing 
to  her.  The  mission  was  accidentally  delayed,  so  that 
de  Gouda  did  not  arrive  in  Scotland  until  the  arrangements 
for  Mary's  interview  with  Elizabeth  were  nearing  com- 
pletion ;  and  though  he  landed  at  Leith  on  June  i8th, 
he  did  not  obtain  an  audience  until  July  25th,  after 
she  learned  that  Elizabeth  had  postponed  the  interview. 

During  all  this  while,  de  Gouda  had  been  in  close 
hiding  :  the  rumour  that  a  Papal  nuncio  was  in  Scotland 
had  aroused  a  great  storm  of  indignation  amongst  the 
Protestants,  and  Randolph  was  exercised  as  to  whether 
he  could  remain  in  Scotland,  should  Mary  receive  him. 
The  interview,  to  which  Maitland  was  privy,  took  place 
while  her  brother  Mar  and  others  were  at  the  sermon  ; 
but  the  conference  lasted  so  long  that  Mar  almost  caught 
^  Papal  Negotiations,  p.  87. 


HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS  233 


them  together,  and  Randolph  came  to  know  that  it  had 
taken  place.  Maitland,  in  excusing  it,  told  him  that  since 
the  envoy  desired  to  speak  with  her,  she  could  hardly 
do  less  than  see  him  ;  but  he  assured  him  he  would  return 
in  vain,"  and  that  the  present  political  situation  would 
be  in  no  way  disturbed.^ 

In  making  such  a  declaration,  he  was  fully  justified  by 
the  general  tenor  of  Mary's  conversation  with  de  Gouda. 
While  assuring  him,  as  she  had  assured  the  Pope,  that 
she  would  rather  die  at  once  than  abandon  her  faith," 
she  let  him  know  that  the  times  were  altogether  in- 
opportune for  any  movement  on  behalf  of  the  restoration 
of  Catholicism.  When  he  exhorted  her  to  follow  the 
example  of  Mary  of  England,  she  plainly  told  him  that 
the  position,  and  that  of  the  kingdom  and  nobility,  of  the 
English  Queen  were  very  different  from  hers,  while  to 
the  request  that  she  should  send  a  deputation  of  bishops  to 
the  Council  of  Trent,  she  replied  that  she  would  consult 
with  the  nobles  as  to  how  it  was  to  be  done,  but  under 
present  circumstances  with  little  hope  of  success."  Even  as 
to  the  future,  she  was  notably  reticent,  virtually  declining 
to  give  him  any  of  her  confidence  :  when  he  spoke  of  a 
college  for  training  ecclesiastics,  she  replied,"  he  says, 
in  one  word,  that  this  might  come  in  due  time,  but  was 
impracticable  just  then,  and  so  dismissed  us."  ^ 

Even  had  Mary  not  been  desirous  to  await  the  further 
development  of  events,  one  great  difiiculty  in  com- 
mitting herself  to  a  Catholic  rising  was  that  she  could 
put  no  faith  in  Huntly,  of  whom  Randolph  wrote  on 
February  6th,  1560-61,  that  if  his  craft  "were  not  so 
well  known  that  no  man  wyll  truste  hym  ether  in  worde 
1  Papal  Negotiations,  143.  ^  Ibid.,  pp.  1 12-61. 


234  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


or  deade,  he  were  hable  for  his  good  mynde  to  God 
and  his  countrie  to  do  myche  myschef."  ^  How  keenly 
he  and  the  Gordons  felt  the  rejection  by  Mary  of  their 
offer  to  take  her  under  their  protection,  we  may  infer 
from  the  story  of  his  wife's  consultation  with  her 
"  familiars  " — i.e.  her  witches — as  to  whether  Mary  would 
reach  Scotland  in  safety.  We  must  believe  that  these 
oracles  gave  her  an  answer  as  satisfactory  to  her  as, 
when  he  heard  the  story,  it  was  to  Randolph — "  that  the 
Queene  shall  never  set  her  foote  in  Scottyshe  ground."  ^ 
But  when  Mary  did,  nevertheless,  arrive,  Huntly  hastened 
by  post-horses  to  Edinburgh,  only  to  find  himself  super- 
seded, as  her  chief  confidant,  by  her  brother.  At  the 
beginning,  his  presence  in  Edinburgh  was  of  some  service 
to  her  in  securing  the  maintenance  of  her  Mass  ;  but 
the  excess  of  his  Catholic  zeal  was,  meanwhile,  almost  as 
embarrassing  to  her  as  the  efforts  of  those  who  desired 
to  deprive  her  of  the  exercise  of  her  religion. 

Notwithstanding  that  Chatelherault — this  was  after  the 
Arran  incident — and  Huntly  expressed  themselves  in  favour 
of  Mary's  interview  with  Elizabeth,  it  was  supposed  that 
they  would  seek  to  excuse  themselves  from  accompanying 
her  into  England,  the  one  on  account  of  a  diseased  arm 
and  the  other  on  account  of  a  sore  leg  ;  but  the  postpone- 
ment of  the  interview  by  Elizabeth  delivered  them  from 
their  dilemma. 

Having  been  disappointed  of  her  journey  to  England, 
Mary  now  determined  to  undertake  a  progress  in  the 
north,  going  as  far  as  Inverness.  In  Aberdeen  there 
had  been  an  expectation  that  she  would  visit  that  city 
earlier  ;  but  the  journey  had  been  delayed,  it  may  be, 

^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  513.  ^  Ibtd.,  543. 


ENAMELLED  JEWEL. 
Presented  by  Mar\-  Queen  of  Scots  to  George  Gordon,  fourth  Earl  of  HuntI}-. 


HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS  235 


on  account  of  her  unsatisfactory  relations  with  Huntly, 
who,  as  early  as  January,  had  fallen  into  discredit  ;  and 
the  visit  now  undertaken,  was  probably  intended  to  be  of 
a  different  kind  from  that  which  she  had  previously  con- 
templated. Most  likely  before  she  set  out,  her  purpose 
was  to  take  measures  to  curb  the  influence  of  Huntly  in 
the  north.  For  this  there  were  various  reasons:  (i)  It 
would  tend  to  allay  the  restiveness  of  the  extreme 
Protestants,  who  at  their  assembly  in  June  had  framed  a 
special  petition  to  her  against  the  Mass  and  toleration  of 
the  Catholics  ;  (2)  the  visit  of  de  Gouda  suggested  the 
necessity  of  taking  every  precaution  against  a  premature 
Catholic  rising,  for  Mary,  while  she  knew  that  de  Gouda 
was  doing  what  he  could  to  stir  the  Catholics  into  action, 
was  doubtless  unaware  that  from  the  elusive  Huntly  he 
had  failed  to  obtain  so  firm  an  answer  as  he  expected  ;  ^ 
(3)  it  was  advisable,  in  view  of  her  future  intentions,  to 
do  everything  she  could  to  gratify  her  brother,  and  she 
now  purposed  to  put  him  in  the  possession  of  the  earldom 
of  Moray,  whether  Huntly  said  nay  or  not ;  (4)  it  was 
politic  to  produce  on  Elizabeth  the  impression  that  she 
was  not  supremely  devoted  to  the  interests  of  Catholicism  ; 
and  (5)  there  was  the  quarrel  with  Huntly 's  son.  Sir  John 
Gordon,  the  exact  character  of  which  has  hitherto  been 
misunderstood. 

On  June  27th,  Sir  John  Gordon  had  been  sent  to  the 
Tolbooth  for  a  savage  attack  on  Lord  Ogilvie  of  Airlie, 
whom  he  had  severely  wounded  in  the  arm  ;  but,  a  few 
days  afterwards,  he  made  his  escape.  This  Sir  John, 
the  third,  and  the  second  surviving,  son  of  Huntly,  had 
already  a  remarkable  record.    The  ground  of  his  quarrel 

^  Papal  Negotiations,  p.  1 54. 


236 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


with  Lord  Ogllvie  was  an  action  by  Ogilvie  in  regard  to 
certain  lands,  which  Ogilvie  of  Findlater  had  bequeathed 
to  Gordon,  instead  of  to  his  son  James  Ogilvie  of  Cardell. 
According  to  Randolph,  the  son  had  been  disinherited 
for  two  astounding  reasons:  (i)  soliciting  his  father's 
wife,  who  was  his  stepmother,  to  "dishonesty"  with  him 
and  other  men,  and  (2)  conspiring  to  lock  up  his  father 
in  a  dark  room  and  keep  him  awake  until  he  became 
mad.  Furthermore,  it  was  the  strange  stepmother  who 
persuaded  Findlater  to  disinherit  his  unfilial  son  in 
favour  of  Sir  John  Gordon,  who,  after  Findlater's  death, 
either  married  the  widow  or  made  her  his  mistress.^ 
In  an  order  of  the  Privy  Council  she  is  referred  to 
as  "  the  pretended  spouse  "  of  Sir  John  Gordon  "  ;  and  at 
any  rate,  having,  according  to  Randolph,  cast  hys  fantasie 
unto  another,"  he,  because  she  would  not  give  the  lands 
to  him,  "locked  her  up  in  a  close  chamber." 

It  is  possible  that  the  so-called  marriage  was  invalid, 
and  that  Huntly  was  now  scheming  for  a  marriage  between 
his  son  and  the  Queen.  Gordon  of  Gordonstown,  in  his 
Earldom  of  Sutherland,  even  affirms  that  Mary  was  in 
love  with  him,  and  this  writer  may  have  been  so  informed 
by  his  mother,  Lady  Jean  Gordon,  whom  Bothwell  divorced 
in  order  to  marry  Mary  ;  but  Sir  John  must  have  been 
unduly  confident  on  this  point.  In  any  case,  it  was 
charged  against  Sir  John  that  from  the  very  first  he 
intended,  if  he  could,  to  capture  Mary  on  her  arrival  in 
Aberdeen  ;  and  Mary  herself  told  Randolph  that  among 
the  shameful  and  detestable  practices  Huntly  intended  to 
use  against  her,  was  to  have  married  her  "wher  he  wolde."  ^ 

*  Scottish  Papers,  i.  656.         »  Reg.  P.  C,  i.  218. 
^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  665. 


HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS  237 


But  it  is  also  clear  that  among  other  intentions  of  Mary, 
before  she  set  out  for  the  north,  was  to  deprive  Sir  John 
of  his  lands  of  Findlater  ;  for  she  had  in  her  train  James 
Ogilvie  of  Cardell,  who  was  the  Master  of  her  Household, 
and  has  left  in  French  a  journal  in  which  he  noted  where 
the  Queen  dined  and  slept  each  day.^  The  significance  of 
the  presence  of  Ogilvie  with  the  Queen  has  hitherto  been 
overlooked,  Chalmers,  who  mentions  the  circumstance,  failing 
to  recognise  that  Gordon  and  Ogilvie  were  at  deadly  feud. 

Mary  began  her  journey  to  the  north  on  August  i  ith, 
and  on  the  13th  reached  Stirling,  where,  on  the  14  and  15th, 
meetings  of  the  Privy  Council  were  held  to  consider  the 
question  of  the  interview.  Before  leaving  Stirling  she  had 
a  conference  with  Mar,  Maitland,  and  Randolph  in  regard 
to  a  proposal  of  Elizabeth  to  send  help  to  the  Prince 
of  Conde,  while  the  irrepressible  Knox  also  made  his 
appearance  to  present  to  her,  in  support  of  the  proposal, 
a  supplication  in  the  name  of  the  Church. 

On  the  1 8th  she  left  Stirling  for  Perth.  On  account 
of  the  Letters  Patent  for  Mary's  interview  with  Elizabeth 
being  dated  at  Perth,  August  24th,  and  a  letter  of  Mary, 
to  the  magistrates  of  Edinburgh  being  dated  at  Coupar 
Angus,  on  August  21st,  while  a  meeting  of  the  Privy 
Council  was  held  at  Edzell  on  the  25th,  Dr.  Hay  Fleming^ 
makes  her  proceed  by  Coupar  Angus  to  Perth,  while,  in 
fact,  Coupar  Angus  lies  between  Perth  and  Edzell,  which, 
besides,  would  be  more  than  a  day's  journey  from  Perth. 
The  cause  of  the  discrepancy  is  a  mistake  in  the  Perth 
date,  probably  due  to  the  copyist  who  wrote   the  MS. 

*  It  was  at  one  time  in  the  possession  of  George  Chalmers,  and  a  translation 
of  it  is  included  in  his  MSS.  collection  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh, 

*  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  74. 


238 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


in  the  Cottonlan  Library.  According  to  the  journal  of 
Ogilvie,  Mary  left  Perth  on  the  21st. 

Proceeding  by  Glammis,  where  she  was  on  the  26th, 
Mary  reached  Old  Aberdeen  on  the  27th.  Here,  according 
to  Knox,  Huntly  and  his  lady,  "  with  no  small  tryne,  re- 
maned in  court,  was  supposed  to  have  the  greatest  credyte, 
departed  with  the  Quene  to  Buchquhane,  met  hir  again  at 
Rothymay,  looking  that  sche  should  have  passed  with  him 
to  Strathbogye "  ;  but  since  Sir  John  Gordon  broke  his 
promise  to  enter  into  ward  in  Aberdeen,  she  avoided 
Strathbogie  and  "  passed  through  Strathyla  to  Innerness."  ^ 

Sir  John  having,  on  August  31st,  appeared  before  a  court 
of  justiciary  in  the  Tolbooth  of  Aberdeen,  he  was,  by  the 
Queen's  direction,  ordered,  on  September  ist,  to  enter 
himself  in  ward  in  the  Castle  of  Stirling.^  The  Queen  left 
Aberdeen  on  the  same  day  in  the  expectation  that  Sir  John 
would  obey  ;  but  learning  that  he  had  no  intention  of  doing 
so,  she  declined,  says  Randolph,  in  a  letter  of  September 
1 8th,  to  come  to  Huntly's  house,  "  though  looked  and 
provided  for."  ^  Argyll  and  Randolph,  at  Huntly's  request 
and  by  leave  of  the  Queen,  stayed  at  Huntly's  house  for 
two  nights,  where  they  found  his  "cheere  "  to  be  "  mervilous 
great,  his  mynde  then  suche,  as  yt  appered  to  us,  as  ought 
to  be  in  anye  subjecte  to  his  sovereigne."  ^  But  Randolph 
learned  later  that  his  mynde  "  was  mere  pretence ;  and 
had  the  Queen  gone  to  Strathbogie,  it  was  his  intention 
either  to  have  got  her  into  his  hands  or  to  have  cut  off 
Moray  and  Lethington. 

On  Mary  reaching  Darnaway,  an  order,  on  September 
lOth,  was  issued  against  Sir  John,  for  not  only  neglecting 


^  Works,  ii.  353. 

3  Scottish  Papers,  i.  651. 


3  Reg.  P.  C,  i.  218-19. 
*  Ibid.,  652. 


HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS  239 


to  enter  himself  in  ward,  but  for  assembling  his  followers  in 
order  "  to  brek  the  hale  cuntre  sa  fer  as  is  in  his  power."  ^ 
Here  also  it  was  announced  that  the  Queen  had  created 
Mar,  Earl  of  Moray,  and  had  given  him  a  grant  of  the 
earldom  in  place  of  that  of  Mar  claimed  by  the  Erskines. 

On  reaching  Inverness — which  she  did,  not  on  the  9th, 
as  Randolph  states,  but  on  the  i  ith — she  purposed  to  lodge 
in  the  castle,  but  was  refused  entrance  by  the  keeper, 
Alexander  Gordon,  deputy  of  Huntly's  son.  Lord  Gordon. 
The  castle  was  a  royal  building  of  which  Huntly  had  charge 
as  Sheriff  of  Inverness  ;  and  for  the  keeper  to  refuse 
the  Queen  entrance  to  it,  until  he  had  authority  from 
Huntly,  was  the  very  insolence  of  treason.  On  learning 
that  the  country  people  were  assembling  to  the  Queen's 
assistance,  the  Gordons  sent  word  to  him  to  surrender  it, 
which  he  did  ;  but,  for  his  previous  contumacy,  he  was 
hanged  over  the  battlements. 

After  remaining  in  quiet  at  Inverness  for  five  days,  the 
Queen,  convoyed  by  great  numbers  of  horse  and  foot,  pro- 
ceeded to  Spyine,  a  seat  of  Patrick  Hepburn,  Catholic 
Bishop  of  Moray.  The  Bishop  may  or  may  not  have  been 
a  confederate  of  Huntly,  whom  he  had  formerly  joined  in 
inviting  the  Queen  to  Scotland  ;  but,  enemy  though  he 
must  have  been  to  the  Queen's  brother,  he  had  no  option 
but  to  hide  his  discontent  at  his  triumph.  Huntly  was 
himself  keeping  at  home  ;  but  Sir  John  Gordon  was 
insolently  hovering  on  the  skirts  of  the  Queen  with  a  large 
band  of  followers,  and  it  was  supposed  that  he  would 
make  his  attack  at  the  passage  of  the  Spey. 

Meanwhile,  her  free  and  open-air  life,  with  its  spice 
of  adventure,  exactly  accorded  with  Mary's  temperament, 

1  Reg.  P.  C,  i.  219, 


240 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


and  the  change  it  had  wrought  in  her  bearing  quite 
surprised  Randolph.  "  In  all  these  garbullies,"  he  wrote 
to  Cecil,  I  assure  your  honour  I  never  sawe  her  merrier, 
never  disamayde,  nor  never  thought  that  stomache  to  be 
in  her  that  I  fynde  !  She  repented  nothynge  but,  when 
the  lardes  and  other  at  Ennernes  came  in  the  mornynges 
from  the  wache,  that  she  was  not  a  man  to  knowe  what 
lyf  yt  was  to  lye  all  nyghte  in  the  feeldes,  or  to  walke 
upon  the  cawsaye  with  a  jacke  and  knapschall,  a  Glascowe 
buckeler  and  a  brood e  swerde."  ^ 

The  Queen's  scouts  brought  word  that  the  Gordons 
had  a  thousand  men  concealed  in  the  woods  near  the  Spey  ; 
but  two  miles  before  she  reached  it,  intelligence  arrived 
that  they  had  disappeared.  As  she  passed  Findlater, 
standing  hard  on  the  sea/'  she  summoned  it  to  surrender  ; 
but  this  being  refused,  and  its  capture  being  impossible 
without  cannon,  she  passed  on,  and  arrived  at  Old  Aberdeen, 
"  cleane  owte  of  danger,"  on  September  22nd. 

Next  day  she  made  her  deferred  entry  into  the  New 
Town  of  Aberdeen,  where,  according  to  Randolph,  she  was 
received  with  many  tokens  of  welcome,  as  well  in  spectacles, 
plays,  enterludes  and  other  as  theie  culde  beste  devise."  ^ 
It  w^as  her  original  purpose  to  have  remained  some  time  in 
Aberdeen,  in  order  to  put  the  country  in  quietness;  and 
she  now  resolved,  after  consulting  how  to  reform  the 
country,  to  begin  at  the  "  head,"  and  unless  Huntly 
delivered  up  his  son,  to  use  all  force  against  him  ^' for 
the  subverting  of  his  house  for  ever."  For  this  purpose 
she  levied  a  hundred  and  twenty  harquebussiers,  and  sent  to 
the  south  for  such  experienced  soldiers  as  Lord  Lindsay, 
Kirkcaldy  of  Grange,  and  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  while 
1  Scottish  Papers,  i.  651.  ^  Ibid,,  653. 


HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS  241 


cannon  were  also  procured  to  take  by  storm  Findlater 
and  other  houses  held  against  her. 

Huntly,  meanwhile,  sent  his  son,  Lord  Gordon,  to  the 
south  to  consult  Gordon's  father-in-law,  Chatelherault  ; 
and  meanwhile  he  resolved  to  temporise.  He  was  ready 
to  appear  with  an  armed  force  for  Mary's  assistance  against 
his  son  ;  but  unless  accompanied  by  an  armed  force,  he 
preferred  retirement.  In  dread  of  capture,  he  neither  slept 
in  his  own  house  nor  more  than  one  night  in  one  place. 
This  becoming  known  to  Mary's  generals,  and  that  it 
was  his  custom  to  occupy  his  house  during  the  day, 
Kirkcaldy,  with  the  Tutor  of  Pitcur  and  twelve  attendants, 
started  from  Aberdeen  so  as  to  reach  Strathbogie  at 
twelve  o'clock,  when  the  Earl  would  be  in  the  house  for 
his  dinner. 

It  was  calculated  that  the  small  company  would  not  alarm 
the  Earl,  Kirkcaldy's  intention  being  to  seize  the  entrance 
to  the  house,  until  the  arrival  of  a  larger  force  under 
Lord  John  and  others  ;  but  the  more  advanced  portion 
of  this  force  had  spurred  on  rather  quickly,  and  appearing 
on  the  horizon,  about  a  mile  distant,  as  Kirkcaldy  was 
in  parley  with  the  porter,  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
watchman  on  the  tower,  who  immediately  raised  the 
alarm.  The  Tutor  of  Pitcur  had  ridden  round  to 
the  back  ;  but  Huntly,  without  boot  or  sword,  got  over 
a  low  wall  where  his  horse  was  in  waiting,  and  on  his 
fresh  and  swift  mount  soon  outdistanced  all  pursuit. 

On  the  return  of  his  pursuers  from  their  fruitless  chase, 
his  lady  set  open  to  them  the  gates  and  doors  of  the 
castle,  but  could  make  them  but  sorry  cheer.  They 
found  that  everything  had  been  removed  from  it  save 
a  few  beds  of  the  worst  sort  ;  but  the  chapel  remained 

VOL.   I.  16 


Mary  queen  of  scots 


"garnished,"  and  on  being  asked  why  she  had  not  de- 
furnished  it  also,  the  Countess  replied  that  she  was  sure 
the  Queen  would  not  be  offended  with  that.  She  had 
already  shown  the  chapel — "  fayer  and  trymlye  hanged, 
all  ornaments  and  masse  robes  reddie  lyenge  upon  the 
autour,  with  crosse  and  candeis  stondinge  upon  yt "  ^ — to  a 
former  envoy  of  the  Queen  ;  her  expectation  being  that 
the  Queen  would  use  it  on  her  visit  to  Strathbogie. 

Since  Huntly  had  thus  shown  his  heels  to  the  royal 
deputies,  no  other  course  was  open  than  to  regard  him 
and  his  son  as  confederates';  and  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Council  on  October  15th  it  was  decided  that  unless  on 
the  following  day  he  appeared  to  answer  to  the  things 
laid  to  his  charge,  he  should  be  put  to  the  horn.^  This 
decisive  step  had  become  absolutely  necessary,  for,  two 
nights  before.  Sir  John  Gordon,  with  some  150  men,  had 
surrounded  a  captain  and  some  soldiers  lying  in  a  village 
near  Findlater  and  taken  fifty-six  harquebuses  from  his  men. 

Shortly  before  this,  Huntly  had  sent  a  boy,  professedly 
with  two  keys,  one  of  the  house  of  Findlater  and  the 
other  of  that  of  Auchendown,  and  the  intimation  that 
they  were  left  void  ;  but  the  keys  were  rejected,  the 
Queen's  answer  being  that  "  she  had  provided  other  means 
to  open  those  doors."  ^ 

Strathbogie,  being  demanded,  was  now  refused  ;  but 
though  the  key  of  it  had  not  been  sent,  it  also  was 
"  voyde,"  Huntly  having  retired  to  his  Highland  fastness 
in  the  wilds  of  Badenoch.  Had  he  continued  his  elusive 
policy,  he  might  have  baffled  his  enemies  for  a  long  time. 
Meanwhile  the  Countess,  on  the  20th,  came  within  two 

*  Scottish  Papers,  i.  655.  *  Reg.  P.  C,  i.  219. 

3  Scottish  Papers,  i.  658. 


HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS  243 


miles  of  Aberdeen,  desiring  speech  of  the  Queen,  who 
declined  to  receive  her.  Thereupon  she  seems  to  have 
persuaded  her  husband  to  take  action,  for,  immediately 
on  her  return  to  Strathbogie,  he  began  to  assemble  his 
followers,  with  whom  he  marched  to  Aberdeen  "  with 
purpose,"  according  to  Randolph,  "to  apprehend  the  Queen 
and  to  do  with  the  rest  at  his  will." 

Though  contemporary  authorities  differ  as  to  the  number 
of  Huntly's  men,  some  putting  it  as  low  as  700  and 
others  as  high  as  1,200,  there  is  a  general  agreement 
that  his  only  hope  of  victory  was  in  the  treachery  of 
the  Queen's  followers.  There  is  also  general  agreement 
that  many  of  his  followers  deserted  him  during  the  night. 
According  to  Knox,  when  Huntly  saw  that  there  was  no 
hope  from  treachery  he  resolved  to  retire  ;  but  from  fatigue, 
for  he  was  corpulent  and  in  indifferent  health,  he  did  not 
rise  until  ten  o'clock,  and  he  was  then  too  unwell  and 
too  puzzled  to  adopt  a  decisive  resolution.  His  position, 
on  the  Hill  of  Fare,  which  rises  to  a  height  of  over 
1,500  feet,  was  well  adapted  for  enabling  him  to  strike 
a  crushing  blow  on  his  opponents,  should  the  treachery 
he  hoped  for  occur;  but,  as  it  turned  out,  the  extent  of 
marshy  ground  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  caused  him  to  be 
virtually  caught  in  a  trap. 

Huntly's  men,  writes  Randolph,  "had  encamped  on 
the  top  of  a  hill,  where  horse  could  hardly  come  to 
them,  and  were  driven  by  shot  of  harquebus  into  a  low 
mossy  ground,  where  the  horse  dealt  with  them  a  good 
space,  at  length  forcing  them  into  a  corner,  where  by 
reason  of  the  hill  and  marsh  ground,  they  could  not 
escape.  There  were  they  set  upon,  and  at  the  shock,  the 
vanguard  (either  for  faintness  of  heart,  or  other  thing 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


suspected)  gave  back,  many  casting  away  their  spears  ready 
to  run.  The  Earl  of  Moray  and  his  company  being 
behind  them,  seeing  the  danger,  came  so  fiercely  on,  that 
he  caused  them  to  turn  again,  and  so  stoutly  set  on  the 
enemy  that  incontinent  they  gave  place,  and  120  and 
more  were  taken,  and  eleven  score  or  thereabout  slain. 
Huntly's  whole  company  was  not  above  500,  some  say 
he  fought  before  he  was  taken — others  the  contrary."  ^ 

Immediately  on  being  set  on  horseback  before  his 
captor,  Huntly  dropped  down  dead — a  strangely  dramatic 
ending  to  a  career  remarkable  for  nothing  but  its  constant 
inconsistencies,  created  by  the  impossibility  of  reconciling 
sometimes  his  patriotic  prejudices,  but  oftener  his  worldly 
interests,  with  his  religious  or  superstitious  convictions. 
Two  of  his  sons,  the  bold  Sir  John,  and  Adam,  a  youth 
of  seventeen,  were  captured  uninjured,  but  Lord  Gordon 
was  still  absent  in  the  south. 

The  body  of  the  Earl,  after  being  disembowelled  in 
Aberdeen,  was  sent  south  to  Edinburgh  in  a  ship,  which 
also  carried  the  more  precious  articles  of  furniture  from 
Strathbogie  Castle,  the  Queen  designing  to  appropriate  them 
to  her  own  use.^  The  body  was  kept  until  the  meeting 
of  Parliament  in  the  following  year,  when,  in  accordance 
with  the  brutal  usage  of  the  time,  it  was  brought  to  the 
bar  in  order  that  an  act  of  forfeiture  and  attainder  might 
be  passed  against  him,  declaring  his  dignity,  name, 
honour  and  memory  "  to  be  extinct  ;  and  his  posterity 
"  unable  to  enjoy  any  office,  honour,  or  rank  within  the 
realm."  ^    Sir  John — after  a  confession  which  exists  only 


'  Scottish  Papers^  i.  665. 

^  For  list,  see  Inventaires  de  la  Royne  Descosse  (Bannatyne  Club). 
3  Crawford,  Officers  of  State,  pp.  87-8. 


HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS  245 


in  contemporary  gossip — was,  on  November  2ndj  executed 
in  presence  of  the  Queen,  who  attended  in  order  to  silence 
doubts  as  to  her  consent  to  Moray's  proceedings,  but  was 
necessarily  quite  overcome  by  the  trying  ordeal.  The 
younger  brother  Adam  was  pardoned,  and  lived  to  become 
the  hero  of  the  old  ballad  Edom  o'  Gordon,"  and  to 
fight  for  the  Queen  after  her  escape  from  Lochleven. 
Lord  Gordon,  who,  on  February  8  th,  was  sentenced  to 
be  executed,  drawn  and  quartered  at  "  our  soverain*s  plesor," 
she  also  spared  ;  and  being  delivered  from  prison  after 
her  marriage  to  Darnley,  he  was,  in  conjunction  with  Bothwell, 
to  be  fatefully  connected  with  her  later  misfortunes. 

Mary  left  Aberdeen  on  November  5th,  travelling  by 
Dunottar,  Craig,  Bonytown,  Kincardine,  Arbroath,  Dundee, 
Perth,  Tullibardine,  Drummond,  Stirling  and  Linlithgow 
to  Edinburgh,  where  she  arrived  on  the  2ist.^  Shortly 
afterwards  she  had  a  somewhat  mild  attack  of  influenza, 
at  this  time  very  prevalent  in  Edinburgh.  It  was  then 
regarded  as  a  new  disease,  and  therefore  pleasantly  entitled 
the  New  Acquaintance.  Moray  and  Maitland  suffered 
from  it  at  the  same  time  as  Mary. 

By  Catholics  abroad,  the  proceedings  against  Huntly 
were  mostly  regarded  as  symptomatic  of  Mary's  helplessness. 
De  Gouda,  who  had  left  Scotland  on  September  3rd,  attri- 
buted Huntly's  overthrow  simply  to  the  "  heretical  bastard- 
brother  of  the  Queen  "  ;  ^  but  de  Quadra,  the  Spanish 
ambassador  in  London,  learned  that  Huntly  had  determined 
to  "sieze  the  Queen  of  Scots  and  turn  out  Lord  James 
and  other  heritics  that  govern,"  J  which  was  undoubtedly 
Huntly's  final  aim.    Mary's  account  of  her  dealings  with 

^  Chalmers's  MS.  Collections  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh. 

?  Papal  Negotiations,  p.  156.     '  Spanish  State  Papers,  1558-67,  p.  270, 


246  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Huntly,  sent  to  her  uncle,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  un- 
happily perished  in  1865  in  a  fire  at  a  London  book- 
binder's, whither  it  had  been  sent  by  the  British  Museum 
authorities  ;  but  from  a  letter  of  the  Cardinal  to  the 
Emperor,  it  is  clear  that  she  blamed  no  one  but  Huntly 
and  his  son  for  their  calamity. 

When  the  practice  was  discovered,"  wrote  the  Cardinal, 

she  took  such  good  order  to  raise  men  at  once,  that 
she  had  enough  to  offer  battle,  in  which,  thanks  be  to 
God,  the  victory  remained  with  her,  and  she  has  had  such 
punishment  inflicted  on  the  vanquished,  that  she  now  finds 
herself  at  peace  as  she  was  before."  ^  Father  Pollen  assumes 
that  Mary,  in  asking  the  Cardinal,  in  a  letter  of  January  30th, 
1562-3,  to  make  her  excuses  to  the  Pope  if  she  had  failed 
in  any  part  of  her  duty  towards  religion,  meant  this  to 
be  understood  as  "  a  confession  of  fault "  in  connection  with 
the  Huntly  incident  ;  ^  but  since  she  had  thanked  God 
for  Huntly's  defeat,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  she  could 
charge  herself  with  any  fault  in  the  matter. 

Mary's  letters  to  the  Pope  and  the  Cardinal,  in  which 
she  now  expressed  a  determination  to  establish  CathoHcism 
in  Scotland  at  the  peril  of  her  life,^  indicate  the  beginning 
of  a  new  phase  in  her  policy.  It  was  not  merely  that  she 
found  it  needful  to  disavow  all  sympathy  with  Elizabeth's 
action  on  behalf  of  the  French  Protestants,  or  that  she 
was  deeply  hurt,  as  she  must  have  been,  at  Elizabeth's 
conduct  towards  her  uncles,  but  that  she  now  discerned 
that  Elizabeth  was  mainly  intent  on  humbugging  her. 

The  general  drift  of  the  evidence — including  the 
statements  and  attitude  of  the  Guises — is  toward  the 
conclusion  that  for  some  time  Mary  was  really  sanguine 

^  Papal  Negotiations ^  pp.  163-4,    *  Ibid.,  p.  lyiii.   ^  Labanqff,  i.  175-180. 


HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS 


of  coming  to  a  satisfactory  understanding  with  Elizabeth. 
There  was  of  course  the  primary  difficulty  in  regard  to 
religion,  but  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  either  Elizabeth 
or  Mary  made  much  account  of  this.  In  her  interview 
with  the  Papal  nuncio,  Mary  had  dwelt  mainly  on  the 
difficulties  of  her  position,  and  was  very  indefinite  as  to 
what  she  could  accomplish  on  behalf  of  Catholicism  ;  but 
she  now  saw  that  she  might  require  to  put  her  main 
trust  in  the  Pope  and  Catholicism,  in  order  to  secure 
the  recognition  of  her  English  rights. 

Curiously  enough,  hardly  had  Mary  dealt  what  seemed 
almost  a  death-blow  to  Catholicism  in  the  north  of  Scotland, 
than  she  learned  that  Elizabeth  had  committed  herself  to 
a  crusade  against  Catholicism  in  France,  as  represented 
by  Mary's  uncles.  On  the  day  after  Huntly's  defeat 
and  death,  Randolph  entered  her  supper-chamber  and 
handed  her  Elizabeth's  letter  announcing  the  fact.  He 
could  make  nothing  of  her  countenance  as  she  read  it  ; 
but  the  resumption  of  her  mirthe,"  after  reading  it, 
must  have  been  due  to  deep  mortification  and  the  desire 
to  conceal  it.  Nor  could  the  expression  of  the  hope 
that  next  year  she  would  journey  as  far  south  as  she 
had  done  north,  have  been  intended  as  other  than  an 
attempt  to  lead  Randolph  astray.  But  when  she  had 
time  to  collect  her  thoughts,  she  called  him  into  her 
chamber  and  frankly  told  him  that  she  thought  Elizabeth 
was  meddling  in  a  matter  that  was  no  concern  of 
Elizabeth's,  though  she  was  not  disposed  to  make  her 
action  a  ground  of  quarrel  with  her.-^  A  day  or  two  after- 
wards, on  learning*  that  Elizabeth,  who  had  been  ill,  had 
recovered  from  an  attack  of  small-pox,  she  expressed  her 
^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  663. 


248 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


pleasure  at  the  news  that  her  beautiful  face  will  lose 
none  of  its  perfections."  ^ 

But  if  Mary  was  not  yet  disenchanted  of  all  hope  of 
any  advantage  from  Elizabeth's  goodwill,  it  had  now 
become  imperative,  by  reason  of  Elizabeth's  action  against 
the  Guises,  that  she  should  receive  from  her  some  more 
decided  token  of  friendship  than  empty  promises.  By 
her  cordial  relations  with  Elizabeth,  she  was  now,  as 
Maitland  represented  to  Cecil,  in  danger  of  losing  both 
the  friendship  of  her  uncles  and  her  French  dowry,  while 
to  "countervail  these  dangers"  she  had  at  present  only 
Elizabeth's  love,  which  was  but  inclosed  in  her  owne  harte 
et  non  transgreditur  personam''  ^  The  force  of  this  reasoning 
was  also  brought  home  to  Mary  in  a  vivid  manner  by  the 
rumoured  deliberations  of  the  Council,  when  Elizabeth, 
during  her  late  illness,  lay  apparently  at  the  point  of  death. 
Had  she  died,  there  would,  most  likely,  have  been  hopeless 
confusion  as  to  who  should  succeed  her  ;  and  it  may  be 
that  the  knowledge  of  her  Council's  dilemma  gave  to 
Elizabeth  as  much  satisfaction  as  to  Mary  it  gave  uneasiness. 

Maitland  learned — he  put  it  as  mildly  as  possible — 
that  the  Council  had  intended  to  prefer  another  to  his 
mistress  ;  Villemort  affirmed  that  he  was  told  by  a  clerk 
of  the  Council  that  only  one  of  the  Council  favoured 
her  claims  ;  and  de  Quadra  reported  to  Philip  of  Spain 
that  out  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  of  the  Council  there  were 
as  many  opinions,  and  that  while  the  Catholics  were 
divided  between  the  Queen  of  Scots  and  Lady  Margaret 
Lennox,  the  favourite  of  the  two  was  Lady  Lennox,  who 
was  considered  "  devout  and  sensible,"  which,  it  would 
seem,  the  Catholics  had  begun  to  doubt  whether  Mary  was.^ 
1  Scottish  Papers,  i.  666.    » Ibid.,  667.    »  Spanish  State  Papers,  1 5  58-97,  p.  263. 


HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS  249 


Still,  whatever  her  real  sentiments,  Mary  had  to  keep 
up,  for  a  time,  the  old  pretences.  "  Of  thys  nation," 
wrote  Randolph  on  December  3rd,  "  onlye  thys  maye 
be  sayde,  that  the  quene  her  selfe,  how  well  somever  she 
favour  her  uncles,  that  yet  she  lovethe  better  her  own 
subjectes  ;  she  knowethe  the  necessitie  of  my  sovereigne's 
frendshipe  to  be  greater  than  a  preste  bablinge  at  an 
autour ;  she  is  not  so  affectioned  to  her  masse  that  she 
wyll  leave  a  kyngdome  for  yt."  ^ 

That  Elizabeth  was  acting  deceitfully  and  had  never 
really  had  any  other  intention  than  to  mislead  Mary,  is 
hardly  open  to  question  ;  but  Mary's  deceitfulness  cannot 
so  certainly  be  determined,  for  the  reason  that  she  was 
ever  compelled  to  counter  the  deceit  of  Elizabeth  ;  and 
she  was  also  accessible  to  influences — friendship,  gratitude, 
trust  in  the  goodwill  of  others — by  which  Elizabeth  was 
almost  incapable  of  being  affected. 

Knox,  it  is  true,  did  not  agree  with  Randolph's  rather 
roseate  view  of  Mary's  intentions.  Of  "  these  matters," 
we  are  told  by  Randolph,  they  often  communed  together, 
but  they  differed  a  good  deal  in  judgment  :  Knox,  wrote 
Randolph,  "  hath  no  hope  (to  use  hys  own  termes)  that 
she  wyll  ever  come  to  God  or  do  good  in  the  common 
welthe  ;  he  is  so  full  of  mystruste  in  all  her  doynges,  wordes, 
and  sayenges,  as  thoughe  he  were  ether  of  Godes  previe 
consell,  that  knewe  howe  he  had  determined  of  her  from 
the  begynnynge,  or  that  he  knewe  the  secretes  of  her 
harte  so  well,  that  neither  she  dyd  or  culde  have  for  ever 
on  good  thought  of  God  or  of  his  trew  religion."  ^ 

But  what  chiefly  exercised  Knox  was,  that  whether 

^  Illustrations  of  the  Reign  of  Mary,  p.  109. 
*  Scottish  Papers,  i.  672-3. 


2  50  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Mary  accepted  the  Protestantism  of  Elizabeth  or  not,  she 
would  never  sit  at  his  prophetic  feet,  or  rather,  would  not 
sit  under  them.  Moray  must  have  known  this,  and  Mait- 
land,  Morton,  and  others  were  already  in  semi-revolt  against 
the  arrogant  pretensions  of  the  Protestant  ecclesiastics, 
and  would  have  welcomed  the  national  acceptance  of  the 
modified  and  unobtrusive  Protestantism  that  prevailed  in 
England.  But  mere  dread  of  Elizabethan  Protestantism, 
was  with  Knox  a  sufficient  reason  for  exerting  himself  to 
the  utmost  as  marplot  in  the  negotiations  between  the  two 
sovereigns. 

At  this  time,  also,  Knox  was  sorely  exercised  by  Mary's 
manifest  sympathy  with  the  Guises.  On  the  Sunday  before 
Randolph  wrote  of  his  communings  with  him,  Knox  had 
been  inveighing  "  sore  agaynste  the  Quenes  dansynge  and 
lyttle  exercise  of  her  self  in  vertue  or  godliness."  ^  Mary, 
therefore,  called  him  before  her,  and,  as  Randolph  said, 
wished  him  to  speak  his  conscience,  as  he  would  answer  before 
God,  as  she  would  also  in  her  doings.  Knox  asserts  that 
the  occasion  of  her  dancing  "  excessively  till  after  midnight  " 
was  news  received  by  her  that  persecution  had  begun  in 
France.^  But  here  his  memory  played  him  false  ;  the 
rejoicing  of  Mary  took  place,  as  we  learn  from  Randolph, 
not  in  the  spring  but  in  December,  the  cause  being 
seemingly  the  fall  of  Rouen. 

Since  Knox's  memory  was  at  fault  as  to  the  occasion 
of  the  dancing,  not  much  faith  can  be  placed  in  his  recollec- 
tion of  their  conversation  ;  but  it  would  appear  that  he 
denied  having  railed  generally  against  dancing,  or  against 
the  Queen's  little  exercise  of  herself  in  virtue  or  godliness  : 
what  he  objected  to  was  that  she  made  more  account  of 
^  Scottish  Papers^  i.  673.  ^  Works,  ii.  330. 


HAMILTONS  AND  GORDONS  251 


dancers  and  fiddlers  than  of  Knox,  and  that  she  danced, 
as  the  Philistines  did,  for  the  pleasure  she  took  "  in  the 
displesour  of  Goddes  people."  Curiously  enough  this 
explanation  appeared  to  satisfy  Mary :  on  learning  that  he 
had  been  less  employed  in  maligning  her  generally  than 
in  giving  vent  to  his  ill-humour  at  the  Guisian  victory,  she 
was  inclined  to  make  allowance  for  him.  His  words,  she 
said,  were  sharp  enough  as  he  had  now  spoken  them,  but 
they  were  not  such  as  had  been  reported  to  her.  She  was 
quite  aware  that  he  and  her  uncles  were  not  of  the  same 
religion  ;  but  if  he  heard  anything  of  herself  that  mis- 
liked  "  him,  she  hoped  he  would  come  and  tell  her  of  it, 
and  she  would  listen  to  him. 

This  attempt  to  disarm  him  rather  took  Knox  aback  : 
what  he  desired  was  the  privilege  of  rebuking  his  sovereign's 
delinquencies,  not  in  private  but  in  public.  With  naive 
presumption  he  therefore  proposed  that  Mary  should  either 
"  frequent  the  publict  sermon,"  so  as  to  listen  in  public 
to  what  he  had  to  say  against  her,  or,  at  least,  afford 
him  an  opportunity  of  fully  expounding  to  her  the  form 
and  substance  "  of  the  reformed  doctrine  :  otherwise,  rather 
weakly  and  rudely  added  he,  he  declined  to  be  taken  away 
from  his  book  to  wait  upon  her  chalmer-doore."  Mary, 
thereupon,  pleasantly  reminded  him  that  he  would  not 
be  always  at  his  book  ;  and,  though  he  affirms  that  she 
there  and  then  turned  her  back  upon  him,  we  must  believe 
that  he  had  no  answer  ready  to  her  very  pertinent  remark. 
At  the  same  time,  Knox  was  correct  in  supposing  that  his 
private  colloquys  with  her  would  be  of  no  advantage  to 
him,  for  the  fact  was  that  she  was  now  meditating  as  to 
the  possibility  of  a  new  course  of  action,  not  merely  towards 
hirn  but  towards  Elizabeth, 


CHAPTER  VI 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES 

IN  February,  1563,  it  was  resolved  to  send  Maitland  on 
a  Special  Mission  to  England,  nominally  with  a  view 
to  offer  the  mediation  of  Mary  in  order  to  bring  about 
peace  with  France.^  But  besides  his  instructions  in  regard 
to  this,  he  was  provided  also  with  other  instructions  to 
be  used  if  the  cause — entirely  another  cause  than  peace 
with  France — sa  requiris,  and  at  his  discretioun." 

These  last  instructions  were  to  the  effect  that  should 
any  discussion  arise  in  the  Enghsh  Parhament  as  to  the 
succession  to  the  crown,  he  was  to  desire  Elizabeth  to  see 
that  nothing  was  done  prejudicial  to  Mary's  title  ;  further, 
he  was,  if  necessary,  to  appear  before  Parliament  and 
declare  its  validity,  and  should  this  be  denied,  he  was 
solemnly  to  protest  that  she  was  "  injurit  and  offencit," 
and  would  seek  for  such  remedies  as  were  provided  "  for 
thame  that  ar  enormlie  and  accessivelie  hurt."  ^  Though 
the  discussion  in  Parliament  was  unfavourable  to  Mary's 
claims,  no  definite  decision  was  arrived  at,  and  apparently 
Maitland  deemed  uncertainty  better  than  a  distinctly  hostile 
decision  ;  but  the  unsatisfactory  attitude  of  the  Parliament 
and  Elizabeth  now  determined  him  towards  a  method  of 
action,  about  which  he  had,  of  course,  no  intention  of  taking 

^  Instructions  in  Keith,  ii.  188-91  ;  and  Labanoff,  i.  162-4. 
^  Keith,  ii.  191-2  ;  Labanoff,  i.  167-9. 

252 


After  a  painlinz  by  Sir  Antonio  More. 

DON  CARLOS, 
Son  of  Philip  II.  of  Spain. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  I53 


Elizabeth  into  his  confidence.  But  before  we  follow  him 
in  his  remarkable  secret  mission,  it  is  necessary  to  take 
notice  of  an  unpleasant  experience  of  Mary,  which  was 
rolled  as  a  sweet  morsel  under  the  tongue  of  the  gossips 
both  at  home  and  abroad. 

Amongst  those  who  accompanied  Mary  to  Scotland  in 
the  suite  of  Damville,  son  of  the  Constable  of  France,  was 
the  poet  Chatelard.  He  was  of  good  family,  being  descended 
by  the  mother's  side  from  the  Chevalier  Bayard  ;  but  it 
was  to  his  poetical  and  musical  accomplishments,  he  was 
indebted  both  for  his  own  good  opinion  of  himself  and 
the  consideration  shown  him  by  his  patrons.  Like  other 
poets  at  the  French  court,  he  was,  poetically,  a  fervent 
adorer  of  the  young  Queen  of  Scots  ;  and  after  the  inflated 
fashion  of  the  time  he  celebrated  her  in  verses,  which  she 
acknowledged  by  some  kind  of  poetic  compliments. 

Chatelard  had  returned  to  France  with  his  patron  ; 
but  on  Mary's  southward  journey  from  Aberdeen  he 
presented  himself  at  her  supper-table  near  Montrose  and 
handed  her  a  letter  from  his  master,  which  the  watchful 
Randolph  noticed  that  she  read  with  great  contentment, 
though  he  was  afterwards  informed  by  Maitland  that  it 
did  not  in  any  way  concern  Elizabeth.^ 

On  his  way  through  London,  Chatelard  is  stated  to 

have  told  a  friend  that  he  was  going  to  visit  his  lady  love  ;  ^ 

but  this  does  not  help  us  much  to  understand  the  final 

denouement.    In  any  case,  he  was  most  cordially  received 

by  Mary,  who  gave  him  the  use  of  a  sorrel  gelding  which 

had  been  presented  to  her  by  Lord  Robert  ;  was  stated— 

though  it  may  be   falsely — to   have  supplied  him  with 

'  Scottish  Papers,  i.  669 

'  Spanish  State  Papers^  1558-67,  p.  314. 


154  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


pocket  money  to  enable  him  to  dress  as  a  French  galant 
of  the  time  loved  to  be  dressed  ;  and  manifested  a  friendly 
enjoyment  of  his  society  and  conversation. 

After  the  occurrence  of  the  scandal,  Randolph  wrote  that 
Mary  had  shown  "  over-great  familiarity  "  to  so  unworthy  a 
creature  and  abject  a  varlet " — a  familiarity  too  much  to 
have  been  used  to  his  master  himself  by  any  Princess  alive  "  ; 
but  Randolph  was  seemingly  unaware  of  the  consequence 
accorded  to  poets  at  the  French  court.  Mary  was,  moreover, 
a  special  enthusiast  about  poetry.  She  probably  petted 
Chatelard,  somewhat  after  the  fashion  that  musicians  are 
accustomed  to  be  petted  by  ladies  now,  and  treated  him, 
most  likely,  with  a  friendly  familiarity  that  would  have 
been  out  of  place,  had  the  social  distance  that  separated 
them  not  been,  in  her  eyes,  a  barrier  to  any  misunderstanding 
of  its  meaning.  Had  she  been  in  the  habit  of  violating 
the  proprieties,  the  insinuations  against  her  in  the  case  of 
Chatelard  might  have  a  certain  plausibility  ;  but  the 
Chatelard  incident  stands  alone,  if  it  even  can  be  said 
properly  to  stand.  Indeed  it  stands  chiefly  in  the  highly 
coloured  narrative  of  Knox,  which  is  in  his  most  offen- 
sive vein. 

Being  prejudiced  up  to  the  eyes  against  Mary,  as  a 
persistent  practiser  of  "  idolatry  "  and  open  contemner  of 
his  ecclesiastical  pretensions,  he  treated  her  with  the  same 
contumely  as  the  religious  disputants  of  those  times  were 
accustomed  to  treat  each  other.  Prepared  to  lend  a  greedy 
ear  to  any  story  against  her,  he  apparently,  in  this  instance, 
allowed  unauthenticated  gossip  quickly  to  crystallise  into 
what  he  deemed  solid  fact,  which  he  then  dressed  up  in  the 
rhetorical  fashion  of  which  he  was  a  master.  Even  Froude 
puts  aside,  in  this  instance,  the  prejudiced  rhetoric  of  Knox, 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  255 


and  does  not  think  that  Mary  had  anything  worse  to 
accuse  herself  of  than  thoughtlessness."^ 

The  mere  fact  that  an  enamoured  and  vain  poet  chooses 
to  suppose  that  a  sovereign  lady,  who  has  treated  him 
with  condescending  kindness,  is  in  love  with  him,  is 
evidence  of  nothing  except  the  extent  of  his  own  enamour- 
ment  and  vanity  ;  and  the  conduct  of  "  the  little  French- 
man," as  Maitland  terms  him,  betrays  such  a  mixture  of 
idiocy  and  baseness  as  puts  him  beyond  serious  consideration, 
as  a  witness  in  regard  to  Mary's  conduct. 

But  by  whatever  motive  Chatelard  was  inspired,  he,  on 
the  night  on  which  Maitland  set  out  for  England,  found 
an  apparently  providential  opportunity  of  putting  his  design 
into  execution.  While  Mary  was  engaged  until  past  mid- 
night in  earnest  political  conference  with  her  brother  and 
Maitland,  this  love-sick  poet,  or  Huguenot  dastard,  slipped 
quietly  into  her  chamber  and  hid  himself  below  her  bed. 
In  this  ridiculous  position  he  was  discovered  by  two 
grooms,  who  had  the  good  sense  quietly  to  remove  him 
and  refrain  from  mentioning  the  incident  to  the  Queen 
until  the  morning,  when,  on  learning  of  his  adventure, 
she  ordered  him  to  leave  the  court. 

This  lenient  treatment  encouraged  Chatelard  to  follow 
her  on  her  journey  towards  St.  Andrews,  and  on  the  evening 
of  February  14th  he  presented  himself  before  her  at 
Burntisland,  when  only  one  or  two  of  her  gentlewomen 
were  with  her.  Randolph's  first  version  of  the  inci- 
dent was  that  while  two  of  the  Queen's  gentlewomen 
were  present,  Chatelard  set  on  her  in  so  impudent  a 
fashion  that  Mary  was  forced  to  cry  for  help,  and  that 
on  her  brother  Moray  appearing,  the  Queen  commanded 

*  History,  cab.  ed.,  vii.  48. 


256  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


him  to  put  his  dagger  in  him,  but  that  Moray,  as  he 
was  about  to  obey  a  natural  impulse,  reflected  that  it 
would  be  better  to  reserve  him  for  justice.-^ 

Knox,  who  had  got  hold  of  this  version  of  the  incident, 
not  only  found  it  impossible  to  let  it  go,  but  embellished 
it  after  his  picturesquely  effective  fashion.  Moray  "fell," 
says  Knox,  "  upon  his  knees  befoir  the  Quene  and  said, 
'  Madam,  I  beseak  your  Grace,  cause  not  me  to  tack  the 
blood  of  this  man  upoun  me.  Your  Grace  hes  entreated 
him  so  familiarlie  befoir,  that  ye  have  offended  all  your 
Nobilitie  ;  and  yf  he  shalbe  secreatlie  slane  at  your  awin 
commandiment  what  shall  the  world  judge  of  it  ?  I  shall 
bring  him  to  the  presence  of  Justice,  and  let  him  suffer 
be  law  according  to  his  deserving.'  '  Oh,'  said  the 
Quene,  '  ye  will  never  let  him  speak  ?  '  *  I  shall  do,' 
said  he,  '  Madam,  what  in  me  lyeth  to  saiff  your  honour. ' " ' 

The  suggestion,  which  Dr.  Hay  Fleming  ^  is  not  dis- 
inclined to  accept,  that  Knox  got  the  story  from  Moray 
is  (1)  unnecessary,  for  Randolph  evidently  got  it  from 
another  source,  (2)  is  in  itself  hardly  credible,  for  if  Moray 
desired  to  save  his  sister's  honour,  he  would  not  proceed 
to  expose  her  honour  to  the  hostile  Knox,  and  (3)  is 
impossible,  for  the  story  was  a  mere  invention  of  the 
gossips. 

At  a  later  date,  Randolph  learned  that  Chatelard's 
appearance  at  Burntisland  was  his  second  escapade — his 
aim  being  to  explain  away  the  awkward  circumstances  of 
his  former  adventure."*  Though  his  intention  was  an  aggra- 
vation of  his  original  offence,  it  could  not  occasion  such  a 
dramatic  dagger  scene  as  that  portrayed  by  Knox;  but  it 


^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  684.  *  Works^  ii.  368. 

'  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  314.  *  Scottish  Papers,  i.  685, 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  257 


demanded  the  application  of  stern  measures.  He  was 
therefore  sent  a  prisoner  to  St.  Andrews,  where,  after  a  trial 
— the  records  of  which  have,  however,  perished,  owing  to 
an  unfortunate  blank  in  the  court  book  of  justiciary  from 
May  1562  to  May  1563 — he  was  executed  in  the  market- 
place, on  market  day,  February  22nd. 

Brantome,  who,  of  course,  was  not  present,  states  that 
before  his  execution  he  read  for  his  eternal  consolation 
Ronsard's  Hymn  to  Death,  that  he  sought  to  fortify  him- 
self otherwise  neither  by  aid  of  a  spiritual  book,  nor 
minister  nor  confessor,  and  that,  on  concluding  his  con- 
solatory hymn,  he  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  Queen's 
lodging  and  cried  aloud,  Adieu  the  most  beautiful  and 
cruel  princess  of  the  world."  In  a  manner  Brantome  is 
corroborated  by  Knox,  who  says  :  "  In  the  end  he  concluded, 
looking  unto  the  heavens,  with  these  words,  *  O  cruelle 
Dame,'  that  is,  *  cruell  mai stress.'  What  that  complaint 
imported,  luvaris  may  devine  "  ;  ^  but  Knox  differs  from 
Brantome  in  affirming  that  Chatelard  died  penitent  ;  and 
in  this  he  is  corroborated  by  Randolph.  Knox  says  that 
he  made  a  "  Godly  confession,"  by  which  he  could  only 
mean  a  Protestant  profession,  and  we  learn  also  from 
Brantome  that  Chatelard  was  a  Huguenot.^ 

This  fact,  in  itself,  gives  a  colour  of  hkelihood  to  Mary's 
statement  to  Maitland,  as  reported  by  Maitland  to  the 
Spanish  ambassador,  that  Chatelard  had  confessed  that  he 
had  been  sent  by  persons  of  distinguished  position  to  com- 
promise, if  possible,  her  honour.  The  name  of  the  lady 
who  had  inspired  Chatelard  was,  according  to  Maitland, 
Madame  de  Curosot ;  but  Mary  had  affirmed  to  him  that 
other  names  also  were  involved  which  could  not  be  intrusted 

^  Works,  ii.  369.    2  (Euvres,  ed.  Buchon,  ii.  148. 
VOL.  I.  17 


258  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


to  letters.^  This  also  was  the  name  mentioned  by  Chan- 
tonnay  to  Philip,  and  Teulet  explains  it  as  the  cypher 
name  of  Chatillon,  the  lady  referred  to  being  the  first 
wife  of  Admiral  Coligny.^ 

Father  Pollen,  oblivious  of  the  fact  that  Curosot  was  the 
name  mentioned  not  merely  by  Chantonnay,  but  by  Mait- 
landj  accepts  the  authority  of  the  Papal  nuncio  for  Madame 
de  Cursol  ;  ^  but  though  this  also  was  the  name  mentioned 
by  Madame  de  Guise  to  the  Venetian  ambassador/  the 
original  source  of  the  information  was  Maitland  ;  and 
Madame  de  Guise,  not  being  able  to  interpret  the  cypher 
name,  probably  misunderstood  the  reference. 

The  unpleasant  excitement  of  the  Chatelard  incident 
had  hardly  subsided  before  Mary,  on  March  15th,  was 
shocked  by  the  news  that  her  favourite  uncle,  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  had  died  on  February  24th  from  a  pistol  shot  by 
the  Huguenot  boy  assassin,  Poltrot  ;  and  a  few  weeks  later 
came  intelligence  that  the  Grand  Prior  had  succumbed  to 
an  attack  of  cold. 

Before  learning  of  this  latter  bereavement,  Mary,  deeply 
moved  by  her  sense  of  loss  in  the  death  of  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  had  renewed "  to  Randolph  all  her  griefs  and 
adventures  since  her  husband's  death,  and,  as  an  excuse  for 
her  extreme  manifestation  of  sorrow,  she  remarked  that  she 
was  practically  almost  destitute  of  friends.^  In  her  solitary 
sorrow  a  sympathetic  letter  from  Elizabeth  seems  to  have 
really  touched  her  naturally  keen  susceptibility  to  kindness  : 
according  to  Randolph  she  read  it  not  without  tears,  and 
she  expressed  to  him  her  conviction  that  it  was  most  needful 


*  Spanish  State  Papers,  1558-67,  p.  314. 
3  Papal  Negotiations,  p.  164. 

*  Ve7ietian  State  Papers^  1558-80,  p.  356. 


'  Teulet,  Relations,  v.  3. 
Scottish  Papers,  ii.  2. 


Fi'otn  a  contemporary  engraving. 


FRANCIS,  DUKE  OF  GUISE. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  259 


for  both  of  them  that  they  should  be  friends,  "  and  I  per- 
ceave,"  she  said,  yt  to  be  Codes  will  yt  sholde  be  so  :  for 
I  see  nowe  that  the  worlde  is  not  that,  that  we  do  mayke 
of  it,  nor  yet  are  theie  most  happie  that  contynue  longeste 
in  yt. 

Does  not  this  suggest  that  had  Elizabeth  been  able  to 
have  reciprocated  sincerely  Mary's  offers  of  friendship,  the 
reconciliation  of  their  differences  was  not  beyond  attainment  ? 
Should  Elizabeth  determine  not  to  marry,  Mary,  if  her 
succession  rights  were  admitted,  might  have  Elizabeth  at  a 
certain  disadvantage  ;  but  she  would  have  almost  no  reason 
for  disturbing  Elizabeth.  But  what  Elizabeth  desired  was 
to  have  everything  her  own  way — to  avoid  any  recognition 
of  Mary  as  her  successor,  and  at  the  same  time  either  to 
prevent  Mary's  marriage,  or  to  cause  her  to  marry  some 
one  who  would  not  endanger  Elizabeth's  sovereignty. 

The  death  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  while  it  removed  a 
possible  occasion  of  estrangement  between  Mary  and  Eliza- 
beth, weakened  for  the  time  being  Mary's  power  to  induce 
Elizabeth  to  come  to  terms  with  her.  Maitland  told  de 
Quadra  that  his  mistress  had  hoped,  by  delivering  Elizabeth 
from  her  embarrassment  with  France,  to  effect  an  agreement 
with  her.  Of  the  difficulties  to  be  surmounted  she  was 
well  aware  ;  but  with  the  powerful  backing  of  the  Duke 
of  Guise,  she  hoped  in  some  way  to  bring  Elizabeth  to  the 
adoption  of  a  reasonable  compromise.  But  since  she  was 
now  deprived  of  this  important  leverage,  Maitland  resolved 
on  an  alliance  with  Spain,  through  Mary's  marriage  to 
Don  Carlos. 

If  we  are  to  believe  Maitland's  representations  to  Mary, 
the  negotiations  were  really  opened  not  by  him  but  bv 
^  Scottish  Papers^  ii.  2. 


26o  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


the  Spanish  ambassador,  de  Quadra  ;  ^  but  Maitland  knew 
of  Mary's  inclinations  towards  such  a  match,  and  he  was 
also,  as  he  told  de  Quadra,  proceeding  "  on  the  principle 
that  it  was  not  fitting  that  the  woman  should  seek  a 
husband."^  From  de  Quadras  letter  of  March  i8th  we 
gather  that  it  was  Maitland  himself  who  suggested  the 
reopening  of  the  negotiations,  though  de  Quadra  admitted 
that  he  had  done  all  he  could  to  entice  him  on.  Maitland 
declared  that  he  was  certain  (i)  that  Mary  would  never 
marry  a  Protestant,  and  (2)  that  she  would  not  take 
a  husband,  Catholic  or  Protestant,  from  the  hands  of  the 
Queen  of  England,  even  if  by  this  act  alone  she  could 
be  declared  her  successor,"  because  she  knew  that  the 
husband  offered  would  be  one  of  Elizabeth's  subjects,  and 
that  after  she  had  married  beneath  her  she  would  have 
the  same  difficulties  in  regard  to  the  succession  as  before. 

These  remarkable  statements  went  to  the  root  of 
Mary's  political  difficulties,  and  of  those  of  Maitland  and 
Moray  as  well.  Neither  Maitland  nor  Moray  were  now, 
be  it  remembered,  their  own  masters  ;  they  had  either 
to  humour  and  manage  their  sovereign,  or  face  a  desperate 
political  crisis.  It  is,  apparently,  from  failing  to  recognise 
the  tremendous  complexities  of  the  situation  that  Professor 
Hume  Brown  commits  himself  confidently  to  the  opinion 
that  Maitland  and  Moray  gave  their  support  to  the  Spanish 
marriage,  "  assuredly  not  from  a  desire  that  it  should  ever 
take  effect,  but  from  the  hope  that  the  fear  of  such  a 
contingency  would  force  the  hand  of  Queen  Elizabeth."  ^ 

The  only  direct  evidence  on  which  the  Professor  seeks  to 

^  Letter  of  May  9th  in  Philippson,  iii.  459. 
2  Spanish  State  Papers,  1558-67,  p.  310. 
'  History  of  Scotland,  ii.  96. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  261 


base  this  strong  opinion  is  a  letter  of  April  30th — probably 
by  Kirkcaldy  of  Grange — to  Randolph,  in  which  occurs 
the  sentence  :  "  the  Quene  mother  "  [Catherine  de  Medici] 
"hathe  written  to  our  Quene  that  Lid.  said  to  her  that  all  that 
was  spoken  of  the  marriage  with  Spain,  was  done  to  caus 
England  grant  to  our  designs."  ^  The  conclusiveness  of 
this  evidence  is  not  apparent  ;  but  since  the  step  taken 
by  Maitland  was  a  very  remarkable  one,  it  may  be  pointed 
out  (i)  that  the  story  of  Kirkcaldy,  or  whoever  the 
person  was,  may  have  been  mere  hearsay,  (2)  that,  since 
Maitland  wished  to  use  Catherine,  he  might  desire  also 
to  bamboozle  her,  (3)  that  there  is  evidence  that  Catherine, 
if  told  such  a  tale,  did  not  believe  it,  for,  according  to 
the  Abbate  Mina,  an  intimate  friend  of  the  Cardinal  of 
Lorraine,  she  never  was  so  scared  in  her  life  as  by  the 
resumption  of  the  Spanish  negotiations,^  and  (4)  that  so 
far  from  using  the  Spanish  negotiations  as  a  means  to 
influence  Elizabeth  to  "  grant  to  our  designs,"  Maitland 
carefully  concealed  them  from  her. 

It  might  have  been  argued,  with  greater  plausibility, 
that  Maitland  and  Moray  were  seeking  merely  to  humour 
Mary  ;  that,  knowing  how  bent  she  was  on  the  match, 
they  resolved,  by  prosecuting  negotiations  which  they 
believed  would  be  unsuccessful,  to  disabuse  her  mind 
of  the  idea  that  they  were  bent  on  preventing  their  success  ; 
and  that  they  hoped,  once  Mary  came  to  recognise  the 
hopelessness  of  the  negotiations,  she  would  be  so  far  clear 
for  an  understanding  with  Elizabeth. 

It  is  at  least  by  no  means  unlikely  that  Moray,  who 
had  a  curious  aptitude  for  bending  to  the  storm  and  waiting 

^  Knox,  Works,  vi.  540;  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  61. 
2  Papal  Negotiations,  p.  465. 


262  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


his  time,  was  influenced  by  some  such  motives  ;  but  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  Maitland  and  Moray  had  to 
solve  the  double  problem  of  managing  Mary  and  thwarting 
Elizabeth.  If  their  diplomacy  seems  now  to  assume  very 
much  the  appearance  of  mere  groping  and  stumbling  in 
the  dark,  the  darkness  was  created  not  by  them  but  by 
the  peculiarity  of  the  ecclesiastical  problem,  and  the 
idiosyncrasies  of  the  two  female  sovereigns  to  whom,  by 
a  curious  freak  of  fate,  the  charge  of  the  destinies  of 
Britain  were  at  this  time  committed. 

Moreover  the  ultimate  aim  of  Maitland,  Moray,  and 
the  great  bulk  of  the  Scottish  people,  no  less  than  of  Mary, 
was  to  secure  recognition  of  the  Scottish  succession;  and 
if  it  be  said  that  they  acted  unwisely  in  pressing  for  a 
settlement  of  this,  that  really  the  main  thing  after  all 
was  Protestantism,  the  answer  is  that  even  the  bulk  of 
the  nominal  Scottish  Protestants  had  not  the  supreme 
interest  in  Protestantism  that  Knox  and  the  clerical  leaders 
had,  and  that,  moreover,  it  is  vain  to  argue  against  an 
overpowering  national  sentiment. 

It  would,  further,  appear  that  Maitland  and  Moray 
had  a  Protestant  scheme  of  their  own  :  they  deemed  it 
possible  that  under  the  new  arrangement  Scotland  might 
be  governed,  independently,  as  a  Protestant  kingdom. 
Maitland  intended,  apparently,  to  stipulate  for  the  preserva- 
tion in  Scotland  of  something  resembling  the  statu  quo 
in  religious  matters.  To  Mary  he  wrote  that  de  Quadra, 
to  remove  the  scruple  about  religion,  had  shown  him  that 
his  master  was  not  "  ane  sworne  soldato  del  papa^'  but 
a  wise  politic  prince  who  governed  the  different  nations 
under  his  rule  according  to  their  own  humour.^ 

^  Philippson,  iii.  462, 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  263 


This,  at  any  rate,  represented  Maitland's  own  attitude 
towards  the  religious  disputes  of  the  time  ;  and,  though 
his  attitude  was  plainly  not  Moray's,  nor  probably  Mary's, 
the  scheme  he  had  in  view  for  Scotland  was  apparently  a 
Protestant  regency  under  Moray.  The  Queen  of  Scots, 
he  might  reasonably  suppose,  would  desire  to  reside  rather 
in  Spain  than  in  Scotland ;  and  since  this  would  imply 
a  sort  of  Scottish  regency  under  Moray,  there  were  probably 
to  Moray  attractions  in  the  scheme,  from  a  worldly,  as 
well  as  from  a  Protestant,  point  of  view. 

But  whatever  Maitland's  real  aims,  and  however  far 
he  and  Moray  were  at  one,  it  is  plain  that  Maitland  was 
doing  his  utmost  to  further  the  Spanish  match.  When 
he  learned  that  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  without  consulting 
Mary,  had  taken  upon  himself  to  negotiate  with  the 
Emperor  for  the  marriage  of  Mary  to  the  Archduke,  he 
"  sent  off  in  furious  haste  to  the  Cardinal,  begging  him 
not  to  negotiate  the  marriage,  as  the  Scottish  people  would 
not  consent  to  it  and  it  would  cause  confusion."  ^ 

The  objections  to  this  match — apart  from  Mary's  high 
ambition  to  be  the  greatest  Queen-consort  in  Europe — 
were  (i)  that  it  was  impossible  for  Mary  to  marry  a 
Catholic  prince  who  was  not  prepared  to  maintain  her 
position  in  Scotland  by  force,  if  necessary,  of  foreign  arms, 
and  (2)  that  it  was  incumbent  on  her  to  form  such  an 
alliance  as  would  enable  her,  if  necessary,  to  assert  by  force 
of  arms  her  right  to  the  English  throne,  should  Elizabeth 
die  childless. 

To  the  Cardinal,  on  the  other  hand,  the  interests  of 
his  niece  were  now  a  matter  of  subordinate  importance  : 
his  main  concern  was  that  they  should  not  interfere  with 
^  Spanish  State  Papers,  1558-67,  p.  422. 


264  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


his  own  interests  and  the  interests  of  France — though  he 
was  also  anxious  for  the  triumph  of  Catholicism  in  Scotland. 
Unhappily  for  his  niece,  while  still  cherishing  this  latter 
sublime  purpose,  he  now  objected  to  its  being  effected 
by  her  marriage  to  Don  Carlos,  which  he  was  as  anxious 
now  to  prevent  as  he  had  formerly  been  to  promote.  It 
was,  however,  impossible  for  Mary  either  to  accept  the 
Cardinal's  view  of  the  matter,  or  to  be  blind  to  the  character 
of  his  manoeuvre  ;  and  to  be  wounded  in  the  house  of 
her  friends,  as  the  Cardinal  was  seeking  to  wound  her,  must 
have  been  inexpressively  distressing. 

With  the  more  definite  Austrian  and  Spanish  proposals 
there  were  intermingled  hints  as  to  possibilities  of  a  French 
marriage  ;  but  in  this  last  case  rumour  was  entirely  at  fault. 
So  far  as  Catherine  de  Medici  gave  countenance  to  such 
a  possibility,  she  did  so  merely  to  entice  Mary  from  the 
Spanish  marriage,  while  Maitland,  on  the  other  hand,  strove 
to  make  such  a  contingency  assume  to  de  Quadra  the 
semblance  of  more  than  possibility,  simply  with  a  view 
to  further  the  Spanish  negotiations. 

As  for  Catherine,  her  main  aim  was,  of  course,  to  en- 
tangle Mary  in  the  Austrian  match.  Except  for  the  fatal 
enmity  between  her  and  Mary,  and  her  dread  of  the  revival 
of  a  preponderating  Guisian  influence,  she  had  every  reason 
to  prefer  a  marriage  that  would  restore  French  influence 
in  Scotland  ;  but,  unable  to  brook  the  thought  of  Mary 
resuming  her  old  position  in  France,  she  earnestly  backed 
up  the  endeavours  of  the  Cardinal  to  win  Mary's  assent 
to  the  Austrian  marriage.^  Catherine's  advocacy  would 
have  tended  rather  to  prejudice  Mary  against  the  proposal, 

1  Letter  of  Raulet,  March  21st,  1563    Add.  MSS.  (B.  M.),  19,401  f.  441,  first 

quoted  in  Philippson,  ii.  197. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  265 


even  had  it  been  otherwise  acceptable  ;  but  the  Cardinal, 
by  his  unwarrantable  precipitancy,  had,  in  a  measure, 
committed  Mary  to  the  negotiations  ;  and,  besides,  she 
probably  thought  it  advisable  to  veil  for  a  time  the  negotia- 
tions for  the  Spanish  marriage. 

On  May  15th  Randolph  wrote  to  Cecil  that  it  had 
come  to  this  point  that  if  she  finds  it  good,  the  Duke 
will,  out  of  hand,  send  hither  his  ambassador  and  proceed 
to  the  consummation  hereof  with  al]  convenient  speed." 
She  even  proposed  that  du  Croc  should  report  to  Elizabeth 
"  both  the  occasion  of  his  coming  hither,  and  the  state  of 
things;"^  and  on  June  15th  Middlemore  was  able  to 
send  word  from  Paris  to  Elizabeth  that  du  Croc  had  been 
empowered  both  to  thank  the  Emperor  and  his  son  for 
the  offer,  and  to  "  note  well  the  personage  of  the  Duke, 
to  learn  his  nature  and  conditions,  and  his  living  and 
revenues."  ^ 

The  most  of  this  was,  however,  mere  fencing  on  Mary's 
part,  her  chief  aim,  according  to  Maitland,  being  to  drop 
the  business  politely."  ^  How  deeply  Mary  was  hurt  at 
the  manoeuvring  of  the  Cardinal  and  Catherine,  she  even 
obscurely  manifested  to  Randolph,  who,  not  dreaming  how 
repugnant  to  her  were  the  Austrian  proposals,  wrote  on 
April  loth  to  Cecil,  I  maye  also  further  assure  your  honour 
that  whatsomever  theoccation  is,  thys  Quene  hathe  some- 
what in  her  harte  that  wyll  burste  owte  in  tyme,  which 
wyll  manifeste  that  some  unkyndenes  hathe  passed  betwene 
them  that  will  not  be  easlye  forgotten."  ^ 

By  June  26th,  at  least,  the  Cardinal  knew  of  Mary's 
extreme  aversion  to  the  match,  and  was  much  perplexed 

^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  8-9.  *  For.  Ser.,  v.  No.  912. 

3  Spanish  State  Papers,  1558-67,  p.  422.       <  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  5. 


266  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


what  to  do  ;  ^  but  he  was  not  debarred  by  his  knowledge 
of  her  objections  from,  in  her  name,  prosecuting  the  suit, 
for  he  hoped,  by  doing  so,  at  least  to  prevent  the  Spanish 
match. 

But  with  the  aid  of  diplomacy  so  marvellously  adroit  as 
that  of  Maitland,  it  seemed  for  a  time  that  the  Cardinal 
and  Catherine  would  be  baffled  ;  and  from  August  to 
November  reports  reached  Elizabeth  from  Paris  of  the 
marvellous  fear "  of  the  French  lest  a  marriage-treaty 
with  Spain  had  been,  or  might  yet  be,  concluded.  Mait- 
land's  quite  unwarrantable  suggestion  to  de  Quadra  as  to 
the  possibility  of  a  French  marriage  so  perturbed  Philip 
that,  on  June  15  th,  he  wrote  to  de  Quadra  that  he  had 
decided  to  "  entertain  negotiations,"  though  he  candidly 
stated  that  he  would  have  preferred  to  support  the  Austrian 
marriage.^  On  his  return  to  London  Maitland  had  some 
difficulty  in  knowing  how  to  represent  to  de  Quadra  the 
prospects  in  regard  to  the  French  marriage,  but  he 
endeavoured  to  feed  the  Spanish  alarm  as  best  he  could, 
by  frankly  "  telling  de  Quadra  "  that  a  person  of  rank 
in  France  had  told  him  that  if  his  Queen  could  only  wait 
a  couple  of  years  she  could  no  doubt  marry  the  King."  ^ 

As  we  shall  see,  Elizabeth,  scared  by  what  she  had 
learned  of  the  Austrian  negotiations,  was  endeavouring  to 
lure  Mary  from  her  apparent  purpose  by  mingled  threats 
and  promises  ;  but  Maitland,  though  he  made  his  own 
use  of  Elizabeth's  professions  to  spur  Philip  to  more 
definite  steps  than  he  had  hitherto  taken,  had  really 
no  intention  of  recommending  Elizabeth's  proposals  to 
Mary.    His  half-pretences  had,  however,  a  strange  effect  on 


*  Documentos  Ineditos^  xxvi.  447. 

'  Spanish  State  Papers,  1558-67,  pp.  332-3. 


'  Ibid.,  339-40. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  267 


de  Quadra,  who  actually  sent  "  an  English  gentleman,  on 
behalf  of  other  noblemen  and  gentlemen,  to  Scotland  to 
offer  the  Queen  the  service  and  assistance  of  the  Catholics 
in  case  she  will  marry  the  Archduke."  ^  So  completely, 
indeed,  was  de  Quadra  deceived  by  the  ruse  of  Maitland 
that  he  was  even  afraid  Maitland  might  do  his  messenger 
"  some  harm." 

When  de  Quadra  sent  the  messenger,  he  had  not 
as  yet,  be  it  remembered,  received  Philip's  reply  of 
June  15th,  and  Maitland  also  had  left  for  Scotland  in 
uncertainty  as  to  Philip's  attitude  to  the  proposal.  On 
receiving  Philip's  reply,  de  Quadra,  dreading  to  commit  to 
writing  any  statement  on  the  subject,  sent  to  Mary  a 
trustworthy  person  "  to  say  what  he  had  to  convey  to 
her."  This  was  Louis  de  Paz,  who,  in  order  to  conceal 
his  journey  to  Scotland,  went  by  Ireland.  Necessarily 
his  message  was  one  of  the  most  welcome  Mary  ever 
received,  but  on  his  return  to  London  to  report  to 
de  Quadra,  he  unhappily  found  him  so  ill  with  the  plague 
that  he  died  within  six  hours.^  Before  de  Quadra's  death 
Philip  had  written  to  him,  on  August  15th,  giving  his 
consent  to  the  formal  commencement  of  negotiations,^  and 
had  de  Quadra  lived  it  is  by  no  means  unlikely  that  the 
marriage-treaty  might  have  been  fully  concluded  ;  but 
without  the  impulse  of  de  Quadra'a  advocacy,  Philip's 
resolution  finally  failed  him. 

Learning  of  de  Quadra's  illness,  Mary  resolved  to  send 
her  French  secretary,  Raulet,  to  London.  But  before  Raulet 
set  out,  de  Quadra  had  been  three  or  four  days  dead,  and 
by  the  advice  of  Diego  Perez  he  therefore  went  over  to 

^  Spanish  State  Papers^  1558-67,  341.  ^  Ibid.^  p.  346. 

*  Doaiinentos  Ineditos,  xxvi.  460. 


268  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Brussels,  where  he  put  himself  into  communication  with 
Cardinal  de  Granville/  He  also  entered  into  communica- 
tion with  the  Duchess  of  Parma  and  with  Chantonnay, 
Philip*s  minister  at  Paris.  But  for  the  persistency  of 
Catherine  de  Medici  and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  his 
efforts  might  have  been  successful.  Catherine  removed 
Philip*s  fears  of  the  Charles  IX.  marriage,  and  she  necessarily 
confirmed  his  fears  of  a  possible  Franco-Anglican  alliance. 
As  for  the  Cardinal,  he  had  recourse  to  the  Pope,  who, 
in  ignorance  of  the  Cardinal's  project,  had  hitherto  sup- 
ported the  Spanish  suit.^  The  Pope  did  not  commit 
himself  to  any  direct  opinion,  but  instructed  Visconti  to 
inform  Philip  of  the  conversation  he  had  had  with  the 
Cardinal  on  the  subject.^ 

Meantime  Diego  Perez  had  strongly  recommended 
to  Philip  to  conclude  the  Marian  alliance  ;  and  on 
October  I2th  Philip  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Alba  stating 
his  difficulties.  On  the  2ist  the  Duke  sent  a  long  and 
detailed  reply.^  Being  strongly  of  opinion  that  Catherine 
intended  that  Charles  TX.  should  marry  Mary,  he  recom- 
mended that  Philip  should  do  his  utmost  to  support  the 
Austrian  marriage.  Against  the  proposal  of  a  Spanish 
marriage,  he  pointed  out  the  danger  of  an  Anglo-French 
alliance  and  the  incapacity  of  Don  Carlos  for  a  position 
of  such  tremendous  responsibility. 

Greedily  ambitious  though  he  was,  Philip  lacked  the 
nerve  necessary  to  enable  him  to  run  a  great  risk.  Alba's 
representations,  being  reinforced  (i)  by  a  dangerous  illness 

^  Cardinal  de  Granville  to  Philip,  September  14th,  in  Weiss's  Papie7's 
de  Gfanvelle,  vii.  209-11. 

2  Memoires  de  Castelnau,  ed.  Laboiirier,  i,  326. 

^  Papal  Negotiations,  p.  179;  see  also  Philippson,  ii.  214-217,  and 
Gachard,  Don  Carlos  et  Philippe  II.,  i.  207-22.  *  Weiss,  vii.  223-44. 


After  an  engraving  by  Ccck. 


PHILIP  II.,  KING  OF  SPAIN, 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES 


269 


that  happened  at  this  time  to  befall  Don  Carlos,  and 
(2)  by  the  indirect  recommendation  of  the  Pope  through 
Visconti,  decided  him  to  give  his  support  to  the  Austrian 
marriage,  though,  for  the  time  being,  the  resolution 
was  to  be  kept  secret.^  Kept  secret  it,  however,  could 
not  be  from  Mary,  who  evidently  soon  came  to  know 
that  a  deadly  blow  had  been  dealt  to  her  hopes.  Early 
in  December,  Randolph  found  that  she  had  become  unwell  ; 
and  on  the  21st  he  reported  that  "some  think  the  Queen's 
sickness  is  caused  by  her  utterly  despairing  of  the  marriage 
of  any  of  those  she  looked  for."^ 

Mary's  chequered  and  eventful  history  now  reaches  a 
new  turning  point.  The  splendid  vistas  of  ambition  which 
the  prospect  of  the  Spanish  marriage  had  revealed  were 
now  all  but  dissipated,  and  they  were  dissipated  mainly  by 
the  Pope  and  his  henchman,  her  uncle  of  Lorraine.  While 
retaining  her  old  Catholic  preferences  in  religion,  she 
therefore  became  more  and  more  inclined  to  play  her  own 
political  game ;  and  indeed  she  had  no  other  choice.  But 
she  was  now  fighting  a  losing  battle.  Her  severance  from 
French  and  Spanish  help  was  to  be  fatal  to  her.  She  had 
now,  almost  alone,  to  beard  two  great  and  irreconcilable 
foes  :  the  extreme  Protestantism  of  Knox  and  the  selfish 
rivalry  of  Elizabeth  were  the  two  portentous  dragons 
guarding  the  entrance  to  her  political  paradise.  Hence- 
forth, therefore,  Mary's  case  was  well-nigh  desperate  ;  and 
moreover,  as  always,  the  luck,  that  there  was,  was  dead 
against  her. 

Throughout  1563  the  rumour  of  the  Austrian  negotia- 
tions— for  owing  to  the  secrecy  of  Philip  little  was  heard 

*  Historische  Zeitschrift,  vol.  xi.  (1864)  P-  296 
'  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  30. 


270  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 

of  the  Spanish  negotiations — had,  however,  been  a  source 
of  sore  anxiety  both  to  Knox  and  Elizabeth.  All  through- 
out this  year  everything  seemed  to  be  going  against  the 
great  Protestant  priest,  who,  had  his  power  been  equal 
to  his  ambition,  would  already  have  either  bent  his  sovereign 
to  his  wishes,  or  procured  her  dethronement  and  captivity, 
as  in  the  end  they  were  procured.  But  the  proceedings 
of  the  Parliament  in  May  seemed  to  postpone  indefinitely 
his  hopes  of  triumph.  The  "  styncken  pride  "  manifested 
in  the  gorgeous  apparel  of  the  ladies  at  its  opening,  was 
evidence  of  how  much  the  Queen's  "joyusitie,"  and  her 
love  of  brightness  and  splendour  had  infected  noble  dames 
who  were  nominally  disciples  of  the  puritanic  Knox  ;  and 
moreover  the  Queen  herself  was,  clearly,  very  popular ; 
and  her  tact  and  oratorical  art  enabled  her  to  produce  a 
great  effect  in  her  opening  speech.  "  The  first  day,"  writes 
Knox,  "  sche  maid  a  paynted  orisoun  ;  and  thair  mycht  have 
bene  hard  among  hir  flatteraris,  '  Vox  Dianae  !  '  The 
voce  of  a  goddess  (for  it  could  not  be  Dei)  and  not  of 
a  woman  !  God  save  that  sweet  face  !  Was  thair  ever 
oratour  spack  so  properlie  and  so  sweitlie  !  "  ^ 

As  for  the  actual  proceedings  of  the  Parliament,  they 
were  notable  mainly  for  the  barbarous  and  degrading 
ceremony  of  the  forfeiture  of  Huntly  in  the  person  of 
his  dead  body,  and  for  the  modification  of  the  Acts  against 
adultery  and  of  those  for  the  manses  and  glebes  in  such 
a  fashion  that,  according  to  Knox,  "  no  law  and  such  Actes 
were  boyth  alyk."  ^  But  the  distinguishing  feature  of  the 
Parliament — that  which  made  it  inexpressibly  disappointing 
to  Knox — was  not  what  it  did,  but  what  it  failed  to  do  : 
it  entirely  avoided  the  burning  question  as  to  the  establish- 
»  Works,  ii.  381.  2  I3id.,  383. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES 


271 


ment  of  what  Knox  termed  "  Religion."  As  yet  Scotland 
was  not  definitely  committed  to  the  make-believe  of  a 
national  religion  ;  and  whether,  after  all,  it  would  be 
Protestantism  or  Catholicism  was  by  no  means  certain. 
The  failure  of  Moray  and  Maitland  to  press  for  the 
establishment  of  Protestantism,  coupled  with  the  supposed 
negotiations  for  an  Austrian  marriage  and  the  manifest 
popularity  of  the  Queen,  filled  Knox  with  almost  over- 
whelming despair.  So  deeply  did  he  distrust  the  purposes 
not  only  of  Maitland  but  of  Moray  and  other  Protestant 
leaders,  that  he  says,  "  familiarlie  after  that  tyme  thei  spack 
nott  together  more  than  a  year  and  half."  ^ 

Supposing  that  their  reluctance  to  do  his  bidding  was 
owing  to  difficulties  connected  with  the  marriage  negotia- 
tions, Knox,  in  a  sermon  preached  before  the  rising  of  the 
Parliament,  thought  fit  to  indulge  in  an  impassioned 
vituperation  against  the  leniency  towards  the  Queen's 
religion  :  "  Ask  yea  of  hir,"  he  said,  that  which  by  Goddis 
word  ye  may  justlie  requyre,  and  yf  she  will  not  agree 
with  you  in  God,  ye  are  not  bound  to  agree  with  hir  in 
the  Devill."  And  he  concluded  thus  :  "  Duckis,  brethren 
to  Emperouris,  and  Kingis,  stryve  all  for  the  best  game  : 
but  this,  my  Lordis  will  I  say,  (note  the  day,  and  beare 
witness  efter),  whensoever  the  Nobilitie  of  Scotland  pro- 
fessing the  Lord  Jesus,  consentis  that  ane  infidell  (and  all 
Papists  are  infidelles)  shal  be  head  to  your  soverane,  ye 
do  so  far  as  in  ye  lyeth  to  banishe  Christe  Jesus  from  this 
Realme  ;  ye  bring  Goddis  vengeance  upoun  the  countrey, 
a  plague  upoun  yourself,  and  perchaunse  ye  shall  do  small 
conforte  to  your  soverane." 

Knox  himself  ingenuously  confesses  that  this  manner 
*  Works,  ii.  382. 


272 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


of  speaking  was  judged,  both  by  Papists  and  Protestants, 
to  be  intolerable "  ;  and  it  is  therefore  small  wonder 
that  when,  at  Mary's  command,  he  appeared  in  her 
presence,  he  found  her  in  a  "  vehement  fume."  To 
Mary's  query,  "  What  have  ye  to  do  with  my  marriage  ? 
or  what  ar  ye  within  this  Commounwealth,"  ^  the  reply 
of  Knox  was  a  subject  borne  within  the  same."  ^  The 
retort  has  been  admired  by  some  as  an  assertion  of 
what  are  supposed  to  be  democratic  rights.  So  far  as  it 
bore  this  appearance,  it  must  have  sounded  very  strange 
in  the  ears  of  a  queen  accustomed  to  the  absolutism  of 
France  ;  but  it  implied  the  assumption,  on  the  part  of 
Knox,  of  a  somewhat  false  humihty,  for  it  was  not  in 
the  capacity  of  a  mere  subject,  or  as  a  mere  layman,  that 
he  was  taking  upon  him  to  forbid  Mary's  banns,  but  as 
the  leader  of  Protestantism  in  Scotland,  and  the  ordained 
prophet  of  the  Most  High. 

So  much  for  the  Protestant  danger  that  was  lying  in 
wait  for  Mary.  From  the  side  of  Elizabeth  the  peril  was 
in  reality  only  the  more  serious  in  that,  for  the  nonce, 
it  assumed  the  guise  mainly  of  excessive,  if  somewhat 
fantastic,  friendliness.  It  was  when  Maitland  was  in  London, 
in  the  spring  of  1563,  that  Elizabeth  first  broached  the 
eccentric  suggestion  that  Mary  might  do  worse  than  accept 
from  Elizabeth,  Elizabeth's  own  too  notorious  lover, 
Robert  Dudley.  Elizabeth's  strange  infatuation  for  Dudley, 
and — it  was  even  supposed — Elizabeth's  connection  with 
the  strange  death  of  Dudley's  wife.  Amy  Robsart,  had  been 
for  some  time  the  talk  and  wonder  of  Europe  ;  and  Eliza- 
beth's friendly  offer  to  Mary  was  as  nearly  as  possible 
analogous  to  the  proposal  of  one  king  that  another  king 
1  Works,  ii.  385-6.  2  /^/^_^  388^ 


After  the  picture  in  the  collection  of  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury. 


AMBROSE  DUDLEY,  EARL  OF  WARWICK. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  273 


should  marry  his  cast-off  mistress.  But  the  curious  pre- 
tence of  Elizabeth  was  that  in  bestowing  on  Mary  the  lover 
she  held  so  dear,  she  was  giving  her  the  completest  possible 
pledge  of  friendship ;  and,  with  all  its  fantasticality,  the 
pretence  had  a  certain  plausibility. 

To  Maitland,  Elizabeth  had  regretted  that  the  Earl  of 
Warwick,  Dudley's  brother,  had  not  the  grace  and  good 
looks  of  Lord  Robert,  in  which  case  they  each  could  have 
had  one  "  ;  but  this  being  seemingly  impossible,  she  was 
apparently  not  only  willing  but  anxious  to  sacrifice  her  own 
strong  affection,  for  the  benefit  of  the  two  kingdoms  and 
the  promotion  of  her  sister  sovereign's  happiness.  It  may 
be  that  her  original  purpose  was  to  grope  Maitland  as  to 
Mary's  intentions  ;  and  if  in  this  she  did  not  succeed,  she 
was  successful  in  entirely  nonplussing  him,  though  he  hid 
his  inward  confusion,  as  cleverly  as  possible,  by  jocularly 
suggesting  that  Elizabeth  should  first  marry  Dudley  herself, 
and  his  mistress,  if  she  survived  Elizabeth,  could  have  the 
reversion  of  him  and  the  English  crown  after  Elizabeth's 
death.^ 

Elizabeth  was  then  unaware  that  any  definite  foreign 
marriage  negotiations  were  in  progress,  though  she  might 
well  suspect  that  Maitland  was  entrusted  with  some  errand 
of  the  kind.  When,  a  few  months  afterwards,  she  learned 
of  du  Croc's  mission,  as  Mary  for  strategical  reasons  desired 
that  she  should,  she  availed  herself  of  Maitland's  presence 
in  London,  on  his  return  from  France,  to  warn  him  that 
if  Mary  married  either  the  Prince  of  Spain  or  the  Archduke, 
"  she  could  not  avoid  being  her  enemy,"  while  if  Mary 
married  to  "  her  satisfaction  she  would  not  fail  to  be  a 
good  friend  and  sister  to  her  and  make  her  heir."  This, 
^  Spanish  State  Paper 1558-67,  p.  313. 
VOL.   I.  18 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


then,  was  the  position  which  Elizabeth  professed  to  take 
up  ;  but  the  difficulty  was  that  while  her  threats  were 
really  vain,  should  Mary  marry  Don  Carlos,  no  trust  could 
be  put  in  her  promises,  even  should  Mary  seek  to  comply 
with  her  conditions. 

Elizabeth's  first  definite  move  after  sending  Maitland 
her  peremptory  message,  was,  on  August  20th,  to  instruct 
Randolph  to  warn  Mary  against  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine's 
effort  to  secure  for  her  "  a  husband  in  the  Emperor's 
family."  If,  further,  Randolph  were  "  pressed  to  say  what 
would  best  content  us  in  her  marriage,"  he  was  to  suggest, 
as  his  opinion,  some  person  of  noble  byrth  within  our 
realme,"  and  to  hint  at  the  possibility  of  "yea  perchance 
suche  as  she  wold  hardly  thinke  we  could  agre  unto."  ^ 
The  person  so  mysteriously  referred  to  could  not — after 
Elizabeth's  earlier  hints  to  Maitland — be  regarded  as  other 
than  Elizabeth's  paragon,  Robert  Dudley.  But  if  Mary 
appeared  disinclined  to  rise  to  such  tempting  bait,  Randolph 
was  to  "  descend  further,"  and  say  that  he  thought  "  some 
other  noble  person  of  any  other  countree,  being  not  of 
such  a  greatness,  as  suspicion  may  be  gathered  that  he  maye 
intende  trooble  to  this  realm,  might  be  allowed."  ^ 

This  move  was  weak  and  illogical.  If  Mary  were 
assured  of  the  succession,  would  she  not  be  less  likely  to 
trouble  Elizabeth's  realm  ?  And,  on  the  other  hand,  could 
Elizabeth  give  a  definite  guarantee  in  regard  to  the  deter- 
mination of  the  succession  ?  Granted  also,  that  Mary's 
marriage  to  a  powerful  foreign  suitor  could  hardly  be 
assuring  to  Elizabeth,  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  Mary 
could  sacrifice  her  own  interests  simply  for  the  preservation 
of  Elizabeth's  peace  of  mind.    Randolph,  when  he  delivered 

^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  19-20.  *  Ibid.,  20;  Ibid.,  23. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES 


Elizabeth's  remarkable  message,  was  therefore  indirectly 
made  to  feel  that  it  had  failed  wholly  of  its  purpose  and 
that  he  was  cutting  a  rather  ludicrous  figure.  The  cordiality 
of  his  reception  could  hardly  have  been  exceeded,  but  Mary 
so  plied  him  with  questions  as,  it  would  seem,  fairly  to 
bewilder  him  ;  after  which  she  still  further  nonplussed  him 
by  asking  him  to  put  down  his  "  sovereign's  mind  shortly 
in  writing."  ^ 

All  that  Randolph  could  gather  from  the  interview  and 
from  other  sources  was  that  he  feared,  "  she  was  more 
Spanish  than  Imperial,"  which  was,  if  it  indicated  the 
likelihood  of  the  Spanish  match,  a  very  black  look-out  for 
Elizabeth.  Nor  could  the  communications  of  Maitland 
and  Moray  to  Cecil  be  at  all  reassuring  as  to  the  success 
of  Randolph's  mission.  Maitland  had  previously  regretted 
to  Cecil  that  his  representations  to  Elizabeth  had  not  been 
"  at  all  tymes  so  weyed  as  I  think  the  wecht  off  the  cause 
did  requyre  "  ;  ^  and  after  he  had  heard  Randolph's  message, 
Moray,  in  reply  to  some  ^'  friendly  advyce  "  from  Cecil, 
reservedly  remarked  that  it  was  not  to  Mary's  honour 
to  "  impede  and  stop  "  the  suit  of  princes,  nor  could  he 
advise  her  Highness  to  do  so.^ 

That  Mary,  also,  was  not  greatly  impressed  by  either 
Elizabeth's  dark  threats  on  her  still  darker  promises,  was 
manifested  by  a  memorandum  given  by  her  to  Randolph 
in  which  she  desired  that  Elizabeth  would  definitely  state 
(i)  "  quhome  she  can  allow  and  whom  she  cannot  lyke  with 
the  particular  respectis  and  considerations  moving  hir 
thereunto,"  and  (2)  by  what  way  she  intendis  to  precede 
to  the  declaration  of  our  richt  to  be  hir  next  cousine."  ^ 


^  Scottish  Papers,  i,  22. 
^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  23. 


2  Ibid.,  21. 

^  P!iilipj)Son,  iii.  472. 


276 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


The  independent  and  almost  jaunty  air  assumed  by 
the  Queen  and  by  Maitland  and  Moray,  coupled  with 
Knox's  revelation,  on  October  6th,  to  Cecil  of  the  plainness 
of  his  troubled  heart,"  ^  was  evidence  that  Elizabeth  was 
then  quite  out  of  her  reckoning.  In  December,  Randolph 
returned  to  Scotland  with  protests .  against  an  Austrian, 
French,  or  Spanish  marriage,  and  a  promise  that  Elizabeth, 
if  once  satisfied  as  to  Mary's  "  choice  in  her  marriage," 
would  "  proceed  to  the  inquisition  of  her  right  by  all  good 
means  in  her  furtherance."  - 

But  it  now  appeared  that  Mary  was  not  so  much 
at  ease  regarding  her  foreign  prospects  as  formerly — 
not  that  there  was  the  slightest  chance  of  Randolph 
succeeding  any  better  than  before  in  inducing  her  to  enter 
Elizabeth's  parlour.  For  some  time  her  trust  in  Elizabeth 
had  been  dead  and  "  damned  "  ;  but  she  was  now  less 
openly  scornful  of  Elizabeth's  offers,  and  more  disposed 
to  fall  in  with  her  game  of  procrastination.  Maitland, 
whom  Randolph  found  at  Haddington  taking  possession 
of  the  abbacy — given  to  him  by  Mary  for  services,  which 
would  have  a  little  startled  Randolph  had  he  been  fully  in- 
formed what  they  were — told  him  that  Mar)'  had  been  unwell. 
Her  illness  he  attributed  to  her  having  "  danced  over  long 
to  celebrate  the  feast  of  her  nativity  "  ;  ^  but  on  arriving 
in  Edinburgh  he  found  that  the  illness  was  of  a  somewhat 
confirmed  character,  that  her  "  grief  was  marvellous  secret," 
and  that  she  wept  when  there  was  little  apparent  occasion/' 
Moray  and  Maitland  he  also  found  to  be  conciliatory, 
though  Maitland  wished  that  Elizabeth  "  had  dyscended 
into  more   particularities."  *    On  the  other  hand,  Mary 


^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  24. 
^  Scottish  Facers,  ii.  28. 


2  Keith,  ii.  216. 
*  Ibid.,  29. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  277 


appeared  to  ha/e  no  desire  to  discuss  her  matrimonial 
matters  with  Randolph,  and  at  different  interviews  put  him 
off  with  general  talk. 

What  definite  information  Mary  then  possessed  as  to 
Philip's  attitude  towards  her  marriage  to  Don  Carlos  is  hard 
to  tell  ;  but  evidently  her  ardent  hopes  had  suffered  some 
kind  of  blight.  In  January,  1564,  she  however  resolved  to 
send  Raulet  to  Flanders  in  order,  if  possible,  to  resume 
negotiations  through  Cardinal  de  Granville.  Of  Raulet's 
mission,  there  and  in  France,  particulars  are  very  scanty,  for 
the  reason  that  all  his  important  instructions  and  information 
were  communicated  to  the  parties  concerned  orally  :  but, 
while  evidently  in  charge  of  a  variety  of  indirect  intrigues, 
his  main  errand  was  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  on  Philip, 
and  to  frustrate  in  every  possible  way  the  counter-moves  of 
Catherine  and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine.  After  Raulet's 
final  return  to  Scotland,  Kirkcaldy  of  Grange  wrote  on 
May  5th  to  Randolph  that  by  what  he  could  learn  he  had 
not  been  "  welcome  to  the  Queen-mother  "  [Catherine], 
that  Mary  was  now  beginning  altogether  to  dislike  her, 
and  was  also  complaining  of  her  uncles  and  had  said  thus, 
Seying  that  they  have  no  respect  to  hir  weill,  scho  will 
do  the  best  scho  can  for  hir  self"  ^  In  February  Mary 
also  thought  fit  to  send  Stephen  Wilson  to  Rome  to  give 
the  Pope  assurance  of  her  fidelity  ;  but  the  Pope,  in  his 
letter  to  her  carried  by  Wilson,  made  no  reference  to 
matrimonial  matters,  and  confined  himself  to  exhortations 
as  to  the  best  means  to  be  used  for  "  the  preservation  and 
maintenance  of  the  Catholic  religion."  ^ 

^  Scottish  Pa^erSy  ii.  60.    For  various  letters  connected  with  Raulet's 
mission,  see  Labanoff,  i.  196-215,  and  also  Weiss,  vol.  vii. 
2  Weiss,  vii.  396-7. 


278 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Either,  as  Philippson  ^  surmises,  in  the  spring  of  this 
year — while  Raulet  was  in  the  Netherlands — or  in  the  late 
summer,  Castelnau  was  sent  by  Catherine  de  Medici,  first 
to  make  offer  to  Elizabeth  of  the  hand  of  Charles  IX., 
and  then  to  proceed  to  Scotland  to  propose  to  Mary  her 
acceptance  of  the  younger  brother,  the  Duke  of  Anjou. 
Both  offers  were  grotesquely  absurd,  and  neither  could  have 
been  meant  seriously.  To  Castelnau  Mary  replied — 
and,  we  must  believe,  in  perfect  sincerity — that  all  the 
kingdoms  and  countries  of  the  world  did  not  touch  her 
heart  so  much  as  France  "  ;  but  that  she  could  not  go  even 
to  France  as  a  secondary  personage,  and  that,  "  grandeur 
for  grandeur,"  she  "  preferred  the  Prince  of  Spain."  Neither 
in  the  spring  nor  by  autumn  had  she  altogether  lost  hope 
of  the  Spanish  marriage  ;  but  her  main  wish  in  referring 
so  confidently  to  the  Spanish  match  was  probably  to  revive 
Catherine's  fears  about  it,  which,  Mary  may  have  hoped, 
if  they  reached  a  very  high  pitch,  might  lead  to  the  offer 
of  the  hand  of  Charles  IX. 

But  having  to  deal  not  only  with  Catherine  but  with 
the  Cardinal,  who  was  bending  all  his  efforts  to  concuss  her 
into  the  Austrian  match,  Mary  was  between  them  deprived  of 
the  only  two  suitors,  marriage  to  one  of  whom  would  have 
met  satisfactorily  the  necessities  of  her  political  situation. 
On  June  ist  the  Papal  nuncio  at  Vienna  was  writing  that 
Catherine  had  been  working  on  Elizabeth's  fears  in  regard 
to  Mary's  marriage  to  the  Prince  of  Spain,  mainly  to  drive 
Elizabeth  to  that  "  peace  which  is  just  concluded,"  and 
that  it  was  now  expected  that  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine 
would  come  to  Vienna  to  arrange  the  Queen  of  Scotland's 
marriage  to  the  Archduke."  ^  But  though  the  Papal  nuncio 
^  Marie  Stuart^  ii.  239.  ^  Papal  Negotiations ^  p.  180, 


From  a  d7- a-  \  r  a      -  .  Lionet  i)i  the  Bibiio:  .  I'io/iaie.  Paris. 

Phot  by  A.  Giraudon^  Par  is. 

CHARLES  IX.  IX  1570. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  279 


knew  much,  he  did  not  know  everything  ;  naturally  he 
supposed  that  what  the  Cardinal  decided  in  such  a  matter 
would  be  law,  as  of  old,  to  the  Cardinal's  niece  ;  and  it 
may  be  that  the  Cardinal,  as  little  as  he,  dreamt  that  Mary 
would  show  the  resolution  she  was  now  displaying  to  have 
her  own  way.  It  was  the  strength  of  Mary's  will  that 
was  more  or  less  perplexing  and  baffling  the  different  high 
personages  who,  for  reasons  of  their  own,  were  so  interested 
in  her  future.  She  had  made  up  her  mind  that  in  this 
matter  she  would  be  made  a  tool  of  by  no  one — as  a  matter 
of  course  not  by  Knox  nor  by  Elizabeth,  but  also  neither 
by  Moray  nor  by  Maitland,  and — what  was  more  remarkable 
— neither  even  by  her  uncle  nor  the  Pope. 

Largely  dowered  with  the  womanly  inability  properly 
to  calculate  possibilities  where  her  strong  desires  were 
concerned,  Mary  had  not  yet  utterly  resigned  hope  of 
success  in  the  Spanish  negotiations.  We  gather  from  a  letter 
of  Philip  to  Cardinal  de  Granville,  of  August  6th,  1564, 
that  de  Granville  had  advised  Mary  to  defer  the  matter  until 
the  arrival  of  de  Silva,  de  Quadra's  successor,  in  London  ; 
but  though  nominated  ambassador  in  January,  he  did  not 
arrive  in  London  until  June  i8th  ;  and,  for  some  reason 
or  other,  Mary  did  not  adopt  the  course  with  de  Silva 
that  de  Granville  advised.  De  Silva  having,  however,  on 
July  1 8th,  written  to  Philip  that  he  had  given  a  somewhat 
dubious,  though  negative,  answer  to  a  query  of  Elizabeth 
as  to  the  likelihood  of  the  marriage  of  Don  Carlos  to  Mary, 
Philip,  on  August  6th,  wrote  that  since  the  Cardinal  of 
Lorraine  had  offered  Mary's  hand  to  the  Emperor  for 
the  Archduke  Charles,  the  proposal  to  marry  her  to  his 
son  Don  Carlos  must  be  considered  at  an  end.-^ 
'  Spanish  State  Papers,  1558-67,  p.  371. 


28o 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


On  the  same  date  Philip  also  informed  de  Granville  that 
after  a  full  examination  of  the  question  he  had  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  in  view  of  the  character  and  temperament 
of  his  son,  of  the  unlikelihood  of  the  marriage  accom- 
plishing the  triumph  of  Catholicism  in  Britain,  and  of  the 
fact  that  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  had  proceeded  so  far 
as  he  had  done  in  the  Austrian  negotiations  and  had 
partly  committed  him  to  support  them,  he  had  reluctantly 
come  to  the  conclusion,  unpleasant  though  he  knew  it 
would  be  to  the  Queen  of  Scots,  to  cede  his  rights  to 
the  Archduke  ;  but  should  the  French  seek  to  substitute 
Charles  IX.,  he  was  prepared  to  reopen  the  question 
of  Mary's  marriage  to  his  son.^  To  de  Silva  he  also  wrote 
in  similar  terms,  but  at  the  same  time  advising  him, 
should  Mary  seek  to  reopen  negotiations  through  him, 
to  support  as  warmly  as  possible  the  claims  of  the 
Archduke.^ 

There  is  no  evidence  of  any  attempt  on  Mary's  part 
to  enter  into  communication  with  de  Silva — doubtless  be- 
cause she  was  informed  by  de  Granville  how  matters  stood  ; 
but  since,  in  view  of  Philip's  qualifications,  de  Granville 
could  hardly  represent  the  matter  as  absolutely  closed,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  in  September  she  endeavoured  through 
Beaton,  her  ambassador  in  Paris,  to  induce  Don  Francis 
de  Alava  to  take  it  up.^  Necessarily  the  endeavour  was 
unsuccessful  ;  for  as  matter  of  fact  she  was  the  mere 
shuttlecock  of  French  and  Spanish  rivalry  ;  and  Philip 
regarded  her  marriage  to  the  Archduke  in  the  light  of 
a  compromise. 

Though,  through  de  Silva's  communication,  Elizabeth 

1  Weiss,  vii.  211-16.  ^  Documentos  Ineditos^  xxvi.  521. 

^  Teulet,  V,  4. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  281 


was  probably  relieved  from  her  anxieties  as  to  the  Spanish 
match,  she  was,  by  it,  necessarily  confirmed  in  regard  to 
the  probability  of  the  Austrian  suit  ;  and  it  was  therefore 
as  incumbent  on  her  as  ever,  to  distract  Mary  by  vague 
promises,  menaces,  and  suggestions.  At  first — with 
characteristic  indirectness — she  avoided  naming  Dudley  in 
so  many  words  ;  but  Mary,  who  could  not  be  blind  to 
the  farcical  nature  of  Elizabeth's  hints,  was  at  first  in  no 
way  anxious  to  bring  Elizabeth  to  the  point,  and  viewed 
mainly  with  quiet  amusement  the  comedy  with  which 
Elizabeth  was  entertaining  her. 

Even  after  she  had  recovered  her  health,  Mary  was  in 
no  hurry  to  resume  her  conference  with  Randolph,  her 
time  being  passed  mainly  in  the  mirth,  pastime,  and 
banqueting  peculiar  to  the  season  of  the  year  ;  but  at  last 
Randolph — who  had  virtually  been  remonstrating  with 
Cecil  about  being  entrusted  with  such  a  fool's  errand  ^ — 
was  permitted  to  say  his  say.  After  various  interviews  and 
much  contradictory  and  perverse  talk  on  the  part  of  Mary 
— at  one  time  liking  well  to  hear  of  the  marriage,  at  another 
affirming  that  "the  weddous  Hfe  is  best";  sometimes 
asserting  that  she  may  marry  where  she  will,  and  again 
that  she  is  sought  of  by  nobody — he  was  given  to  under- 
stand that  the  negotiations  could  make  no  further  progress, 
until  EHzabeth  definitely  named  the  suitor  she  proposed 
for  her. 

Unless,  therefore,  Elizabeth  was  prepared  to  efface 
herself,  and  allow  Mary  to  follow  her  own  devices,  she 
had  no  option  except  to  play  her  trump  card.  Not  that 
it  cou]d  possibly  serve  any  good  purpose  to  do  so,  for 
neither  her  ludicrous  coaxings  nor  her  veiled  threats  in 
^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  43. 


282 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


any  way  affected  Mary  as  they  were  intended  to  do. 
Elizabeth — the  slave  partly  of  her  own  strange  idiosyn- 
crasies, partly  of  her  difficult  circumstances — was  doomed 
to  play,  towards  Mary,  a  part  that  to  the  onlooker  was 
bound  to  seem  unworthy,  when  it  was  not  merely 
laughable.  In  her  own  view  she  had  now  no  option  but 
to  authorise  Randolph  to  proceed  with  the  farce  ;  and  on 
March  5th,  1564,  he  therefore  named  in  speciall  the  Lord 
Roberte,  saying  no  less  of  hym  than  your  Majestie's  letter 
imported."  To  Elizabeth,  Randolph  reported  that  "  yt 
pleased  her  grace  to  here  me  with  meetly  good  patience  "  ; 
but  from  the  details  of  his  letter  to  Cecil  we  gather  that 
her  patience  had  been  a  little  tried.  Unlike  Elizabeth, 
Mary  usually  came  directly  to  the  point.  "  '  Now,  Mr. 
Randolph,'  said  she  ;  '  dothe  your  mistress  in  good  erneste 
wyshe  me  to  marrie  my  Lord  Robert  ? '  I  assured  her  it 
was  so.  '  Is  that,'  said  she,  '  conforme  to  her  promes  to  use 
me  as  her  syster,  or  daughter,  to  marrie  hir  subject  ? '  " 

These  queries  were  but  lamely  answered  by  Randolph, 
and  again  Mary  pressed  him  with  the  question  :  "  What 
yf  the  Quene  my  syster  sholde  marrie  herself  and  have 
children,  what  have  I  then  gotten  ?  whoe  wyll  judge  thys 
to  be  wyselye  done  of  me,  or  who  wyll  allowe  it  ^  or  yf 
she  wolde  gyve  me,  were  yt  never  so  myche,  what  assurance 
have  I  ?  "  And  her  final,  and  very  proper,  conclusion  was. 
Though  I  have  lyttle  cause  to  mystruste  your  mestres, 
or  to  thynke  otherwyse  than  well  of  her:  yet  in  matters 
of  suche  dyffecultie,  good  and  large  advisemente  must  be 
taken,  as  I,  for  my  part,  in  thys  intende  to  do."  ^ 

The  weak  point  in  Elizabeth's  diplomacy  was  that 
Mary  had  ceased  to  credit  the  possibility,  on  any  conditions, 
*  Scottish  Papers,  i.  56-7. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  283 


of  a  satisfactory  settlement  being  arrived  at,  at  Elizabeth's 
instance,  in  regard  to  the  succession  :  Mary's  weak  point 
was  the  present  vagueness  of  her  marriage  prospects  ;  but 
she  had  not,  in  this  respect,  by  any  means  reached  the 
limit  of  her  resources.  On  Mary's  foreign  prospects 
EHzabeth's  diplomacy  had  at  present  no  effect.  So  far  as 
they  were  concerned  Elizabeth  was  wholly  astray — she  was 
in  reality  fighting  with  shadows. 

True,  Moray  assured  Randolph  that  the  Emperor  was 
"  a  continual  earnest  suitor  to  the  Cardinal  for  his  son," 
with  whom  he  was  offering  2,000,000  francs  yearly  during 
his  life  and  5,000,000  after  his  death  ;  ^  but  Moray  knew 
that  his  sister  had  no  intention  of  accepting  the  suit  ;  and 
as  for  Don  Carlos,  had  he  been  obtainable,  no  threats  or 
promises  of  Elizabeth's  would  have  prevented  Mary's 
acceptance  of  him.  Mary  was  thus  entirely  at  her  ease 
in  regard  to  Elizabeth's  diplomacy  ;  and  since  in  itself  it 
was  very  good  fun,  it  was  not  surprising  that  at  supper, 
after  her  talk  with  Randolph,  she  was  "  merrie  inoughe," 
and  that  Randolph,  in  subsequent  conversation  with  her 
and  Moray,  Argyll,  and  Maitland,  found  them  all  in  a 
bantering  mood. 

And  while  Elizabeth  was,  so  to  say,  massing  her  forces 
against  a  merely  imaginary  foe,  she  was  virtually  providing 
Mary  with  an  opportunity  of  getting  within  her  defences 
from  an  entirely  new  direction.  Should  the  Spanish 
negotiations  not  succeed,  as  now  seemed  but  too  likely, 
she  could  fall  back  on  what  was  in  reality  her  only  re- 
maining resource,  a  marriage  with  Lord  Darnley  ;  and  that 
she  was  able  to  do  so,  she  owed  entirely  to  a  false  move 
on  EHzabeth's  part. 

*  Scottish  Papers,  i.  55. 


284 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


On  April  14th  Randolph  wrote  to  Cecil  that  a  friend 
of  good  knowledge  and  judgment  "  had  expressed  to  him 
the  opinion  about  Mary  that  whear  somever  she  hover, 
and  howe  maynie  tymes  somever  she  duble  to  feche  the 
wynde,  I  beleve  she  wyll  at  lengethe  let  fawle  her  ancre 
betwene  Dover  and  Barwicke."  And  he  added,  not  at 
all  to  Randolph's  liking,  "  thoughe  perchance  not  in  the 
porte,  haven,  or  roode,  that  you  wyshe  she  sholde  !  "  ^ 

If  there  was  any  subject  of  Elizabeth  that  could  be 
deemed  a  fitting  match,  genealogically,  for  Mary,  it  was 
her  half-cousin,  Lord  Darnley  ;  and  the  reticence  both  of 
Mary  and  Elizabeth  as  to  this  possibility  was  a  significant 
sign  of  how  little  trust  there  was  between  them.  But 
while  this  was  so,  Elizabeth  had  already,  while  bent  on 
another  purpose,  begun  to  play  into  Mary's  hands. 

Margaret  Douglas,  Darnley's  mother,  had  herself  rival 
claims  to  the  English  throne  with  Elizabeth  and  Mary 
Stuart  ;  and,  being  an  inveterate  and  unwearied  intriguer, 
she  had  more  and  more  set  her  hopes  on  the  English 
throne,  for  her  boy,  if  not  for  herself.  But  with  the  death 
of  Francis,  Mary  Stuart's  prospects  of  the  support  of  the 
English  Catholics  were  immensely  improved,  and  Lady 
Margaret,  recognising  this,  proposed  that  the  widow  and 
she  should  cease  their  rivalry  and  join  their  forces  by  a 
marriage  alliance.  But  at  this  period  Mary  was  ruled  by 
the  opinions  of  her  relatives  of  Guise  ;  and  even  if  she 
had  not  been,  the  Darnley  marriage  had  not  attractions  that 
could  compare  with  a  marriage  to  Charles  IX.  or  Don 
Carlos.  Meantime  she  had  Darnley  in  reserve  should  these 
prospects  fail,  for  she  knew  that  Lady  Margaret  could  have 
no  dearer  hopes  than  such  a  marriage. 

^  Scottish  Papers,  i.  59. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  285 


Lady  Lennox  renewed  her  advances  on  Mary's  arrival 
in  Scotland,  and  on  this  account  she  was  in  November, 
1 56 1,  summoned  by  EUzabeth  to  London.  It  being  also 
discovered  that  she  had  been  engaged  in  dealings  with  the 
English  Catholics,  her  husband,  in  the  spring  of  1562,  was 
sent  to  the  Tower,  and  Lady  Margaret  and  her  son  were 
confined  in  the  house  of  Sir  Richard  Sackville  at  Sheen. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  year  they  were,  however,  set  at 
liberty  ;  and  when  Elizabeth  began  to  have  suspicions  of  the 
renewal  of  the  foreign  marriage  negotiations,  she  began  to 
make  an  ostentatious  pretence  of  receiving  them  into  special 
favour.  To  Maitland  she  broached  the  subject  of  the  re- 
storation of  Lennox  to  his  Scottish  estates,  and  on  June  i6th, 
1563,  she  addressed  to  Mary  a  formal  letter  on  the  subject. 
Lennox  and  his  wife  were  now  also  constant  attendants  at 
court  and  were  made  much  of,  while  Elizabeth  professed 
to  find  special  pleasure  in  Darnley's  performances  on  the 
lute.  This  ostentatious  patronage  of  the  Lennox  family 
continued  for  more  than  a  year  ;  and  when  de  Silva,  in 
June,  1564,  went  to  pay  his  respects  to  Elizabeth  on  his 
arrival  in  London,  it  was  Darnley  who  was  sent  on  her 
behalf  to  lead  him  into  her  presence-chamber.^ 

Whether  the  ruse,  if  it  puzzled,  in  any  way,  perplexed 
Mary  is  doubtful  ;  it  could  at  least  have  no  influence  in 
lessening  her  efforts  to  secure  the  hand  of  Don  Carlos  ; 
should  she  succeed  in  this,  she  could  afford  to  laugh  at 
Elizabeth's  efforts  to  dispose  of  the  succession.  At  first, 
however,  she  appears  to  have  made  no  reply  to  Elizabeth's 
suggestion  ;  but  as  she  turned  the  matter  over,  she,  in 
the  discouraging  condition  of  the  Don  Carlos  suit,  dis- 
cerned that  to  fall  in  with  the  suggestion,  while  it  could 

^  Spanish  State  Papers,  i.  364. 


2  86  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


not  do  her  harm,  might  in  the  end  serve  a  very  good 
purpose. 

As  yet  there  were  no  definite  indications  that  Mary's 
hopes  were  turned  towards  Darnley.  In  December,  1563, 
the  much  pondering  and  perplexed  Randolph  was  of  opinion 
that  she  would  not  take  him,  if  Elizabeth  were  to  ofFer 
him  ;  ^  and  although  in  February  Moray  and  Maitland 
mentioned  Darnley's  name,  Randolph  was  persuaded  that 
they  "  mean  nothing,  nor  find  in  him  any  great  thing  "  ; 
indeed  Maitland  gravely  told  him  that  he  found  no  man 
in  the  world  so  fit  to  match  with  his  sovereign  "  as  he 
whom  we  desier  "  [Dudley].^  If  this  was  not  the  opinion 
either  of  Maitland  or  even  of  Moray,  it  was  probably  the 
opinion  of  Knox,  who  in  October,  1563,  actually  wrote  a 
letter  to  the  scandalous  Dudley,  with  the  view  of  inducing 
him  to  use  his  favour  and  credit  with  Elizabeth  to  advance 
the  purity  of  religion."  ^ 
But  Randolph,  believing  that  for  the  Dudley  match  he 
had  the  best  wishes  not  only  of  Knox  and  Moray  but  even 
of  Maitland,  must  have  been  a  little  bewildered  to  find  that 
a  proposal — emanating  from  Elizabeth  at  his  suggestion — 
that  the  long-deferred  interview  should  now  at  last  take 
place,  was  received  with  indifference,  and  that  the  Council, 
on  June  4th,  determined  for  "  diverse  reasons "  that  it 
should  not  take  effect.^  Further,  with  Randolph,  who  early 
in  June  returned  to  London,  Maitland  sent  a  letter  to 
Cecil,  in  which  he  told  him  that  gentle  lettres,  good 
wordes,  and  pleasant  messages  be  good  meanes  to  begyn 
friendship  amongst  princes,  but  I  tak  them  to  be  to  slender 
bandes  to  hold  it  long  fast."  ^    These  signs  of  distrust, 

^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  32.  ^  Ibid.,  45-6.  ^  Ibid.,  25. 

<  Ibid.,  63-4.  6  /^/^^  65 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  287 


coupled  with  the  news,  which  arrived  about  the  same  time, 
that  Lennox  had  at  last  obtained  leave  from  Mary  to  return 
to  Scotland  and  sue  for  his  own  right,  were  to  Elizabeth  a 
little  disquieting.  Elizabeth's  patronage  of  the  Lennoxes 
had  clearly  failed  of  the  effect  she  intended.  Whatever 
the  new  move  on  Mary's  part  might  signify,  it  was  a 
serious  disturbance  to  Elizabeth's  diplomacy  ;  and  by  her 
next  step,  Elizabeth  only  floundered  more  deeply  into  the 
morass  towards  which  she  had  blindly  wandered. 

With  the  curious  maladroitness  which,  notwithstanding 
her  subtlety,  was  accustomed  to  conquer  her  in  sudden 
emergencies,  she  wrote  to  Moray  and  Maitland  suggesting 
the  advisability  of  Mary  revoking  the  leave  that  had  been 
given  to  Lennox,  her  plea  being  that  some  of  her  [Elizabeth's] 
friends  in  Scotland  misliked  his  home-coming.  To  this 
Moray  replied  that  he  was  quite  unaware  of  any  mislike 
in  Scotland  to  the  recall  of  Lennox  ;  but  he  suggested  that 
if  Elizabeth,  for  reasons  of  her  own,  desired  that  he  should 
be  stayed,  it  would  be  better  that  she  herself  should  put 
her  veto  on  his  journey. 

With  more  incisiveness,  as  well  as  cleverness,  Maitland 
reminded  Cecil  that  the  recall  of  Lennox  had  been  suggested 
by  Elizabeth  ;  that  though  Moray — this  was  a  quite  admirable 
touch — as  a  Stewart  might  wish  to  see  Lennox  restored, 
he  himself,  and,  he  believed,  the  Queen,  had  simply  desired 
to  oblige  Elizabeth  ;  that  as  to  whether  Lennox  came  or 
not,  he  took  to  be  no  greate  mater  up  or  downe,"  and 
that  the  Queen  his  mistress  saw  no  danger  in  the  matter 
to  move  her  to  put  her  reputation  in  doubt  before  the 
world  by  breach  of  promise."  ^  This  implied  reproof  was 
all  the  more  unpleasant  to  Elizabeth  in  that  it  indicated 
^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  67-9. 


288  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


that  she  was  being  quietly  laughed  at.  We  also  learn 
from  Sir  James  Melville's  Memoirs  ^  that  Mary  had  written 
Elizabeth  a  letter  on  the  subject,  which,  being  necessarily 
unanswerable,  Elizabeth  professed  to  deem  "  so  dispyttful 
that  she  believed  all  frendship  and  famyliaritie  had  been 
given  up." 

By  this  time,  however,  the  recall  of  Lennox  had  become 
to  Mary  a  matter  of  more  pressing  importance  than  it  was 
in  May  ;  and  it  was  deemed  incumbent  to  begin  with 
Elizabeth  a  new  system  of  tactics,  which  was  inaugurated 
by  the  mission  to  her,  in  September,  of  Sir  James  Melville. 
When  it  was  decided  to  send  Melville,  Mary  must  have 
known  from  de  Granville  Philip's  decision  as  to  Don  Carlos. 
Philip's  letter  had  placed  the  Spanish  match  so  far  outside 
the  bounds  of  at  least  probability  as  to  lend,  in  Mary's 
eyes,  a  special  interest  to  the  visit  of  Lennox. 

Major  Martin  Hume,  apparently  unaware  of  Philip's 
letter  to  de  Granville  of  August  6th,^  supposes  that  even  three 
months  later  Mary  was  still  in  the  belief  that  Don  Carlos 
was  to  come  to  Flanders  to  marry  her  "  ;  ^  but  if  at  any 
time  in  1564  Mary  cherished  any  such  conviction  she 
must  have  been  exceedingly  sanguine,  for  Raulet's  mission 
had  been  quite  unproductive,  all  that  Granville  could  advise 
her  to  do  being  to  defer  further  attempts  at  negotiation 
until  the  arrival  of  de  Silva  in  London. 

We  must  therefore  suppose  that  Mary's  boasts  to  Castel- 
nau,  if  uttered  in  the  spring,  were  mainly  bluff ;  and  they 
could  be  nothing  else  if  uttered  after  de  Granville  told  her 
of  Philip's  decision  in  favour  of  the  Archduke.  True,  as 
we  have  seen,  she  was  in  September  seeking  to  get  at 

^  p.  117.  2  Weiss,  vii.  211-16. 

'  Love  Affairs  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  204. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  289 


Philip  through  Don  Francis  de  Alava  in  Paris.  But  Beaton 
met  with  absolutely  no  encouragement  in  his  efforts  to 
interest  de  Alava  in  her  case  ;  nor  was  he  more  successful 
when  he  sent  his  brother  to  London  to  sound  Louis  de 
Paz  on  the  subject.^  All  that  Louis  de  Paz  could  tell  him 
was  that  he  had  no  information  to  communicate,  and  that 
he  neither  knew  when  he  might  have  it,  nor  what  its 
character  might  be.  If  also  a  letter  from  the  Duchess 
d'Archot,  which  Mary  in  a  letter  of  January  3rd,  1565/ 
refers  to  as  dated  October  4th,"  had  reference  to  a  final 
decision  on  Philip's  part,  absolutely  vetoing  all  further 
negotiations,  it  gave  her  no  surprise,  her  comment  being 
merely  that  it  was  satisfactory  to  know  that  there  was 
no  longer  such  a  possibility,  since  she  could  not  now  be 
blamed  for  proceeding  too  hastily. 

Mary  made  a  last  appeal  to  Philip  even  when  her 
arrangements  for  the  Darnley  marriage  were  approaching 
completion  ;  but  from  the  beginning  of  1564  she  never 
had  any  definite  grounds  for  the  opinion  that  she  would 
be  able  "  to  carry  through  the  Spanish  plan."  We  cannot 
therefore  suppose,  with  Major  Martin  Hume,  that  Mary 
now  wished  to  have  Lennox  and  his  son  in  her  keeping 
and  at  her  mercy,  so  that  they  "  might  not  be  turned  into 
instruments  of  attack  against  her  by  Elizabeth,  when,  by 
a  coup  de  main^  Scotland  became  Spanish  and  Catholic."  ^ 
Such  a  device  would  have  been  more  in  keeping  with 
Elizabeth's  methods  than  those  of  Mary  ;  but  besides,  it 
would  have  been  unnecessary,  for  (i)  Elizabeth,  by  setting 
up  Darnley,  could  appeal  only  to  Catholic  sentiment,  and 
(2)  we  cannot  suppose  that  the  Catholics — once  Mary  was 

^  Spanish  State  Papers,  i.  399.         2  Labanoff,  i.  249. 
^  Love  Affairs^  p.  208. 
VOL.   I.  I(^ 


290 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


married  to  Don  Carlos — would  allow  Elizabeth  to  make 
them  her  catspaw. 

The  ostensible  objects  of  Sir  James  Melville's  mission, 
his  instructions  for  which  are  dated  September  i8th/  were 

(1)  to  express  Mary's  regret  that  anything  she  had  written 
on  the  recall  of  Lennox  should  have  given  pain  to  Elizabeth, 

(2)  to  make  arrangements  for  a  conference,  which  had 
already  been  proposed,  at  Berwick  on  the  subject  of  the 
Dudley  marriage,  (3)  to  obtain  as  authentic  information 
as  he  could  in  regard  to  the  attitude  of  Parliament  towards 
Mary's  claim  to  the  succession,  and  (4)  to  induce  Elizabeth, 
if  possible,  to  declare  publicly  her  preference  for  Mary  as 
her  successor.  For  Mary's  purpose  no  better  messenger 
could  have  been  selected  than  the  experienced  and  suave 
Sir  James,  with  whom  also  Elizabeth  would  be  less  on  her 
guard  than  with  her  old  acquaintance  Maidand,  whose 
resolute  goodwill  had  become  a  source  almost  of  terror 
both  to  Cecil  and  Elizabeth. 

The  real  aim  of  Melville's  mission  was  (i)  to  preserve 
the  make-believe  of  friendliness  between  Mary  and  Elizabeth, 
so  that  Darnley  might  have  leave  to  visit  Scotland,  though 
this  was  to  be  brought  about  indirectly  through  Lady  Lennox, 
and  (2)  to  do  everything  possible  to  probe  Elizabeth's 
intentions.  Elizabeth  used  all  her  wiles  to  charm  and  befool 
him,  but  the  result  was  hardly  what  she  fondly  expected. 
On  the  contrary,  she  so  displayed  to  him  her  characteristic 
feminine  weaknesses  and  vanities  that  his  record  of  his 
interview  with  this  quite  unique  sovereign  lady  is  by  far 
the  most  vivid  and  entertaining  presentment  of  her  personality 
that  we  possess.  Here  we  are  concerned  with  it  mainly  as 
it  bears  on  Elizabeth's  relations  with  Mary.    While  it 

^  Labanoff,  i.  231-4 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  291 


amusingly  exhibits  Elizabeth's  keen  jealousy  of  the  charms 
and  accomplishments  of  her  good  cousin,"  it  also  shows 
how  anxious  she  was  to  produce  a  favourable  impression  on 
Melville  of  her  own  idiosyncrasy  and  intentions.  Her 
professed  desire  being  to  treat  Mary  as  a  sister,  she  wished 
Melville  to  realise  how  unkind  and  unsisterly  it  was,  on 
Mary's  part,  to  show  distrust  in  her  by  coquetting  with 
foreign  alliances. 

The  suggestion  that  Mary  should  marry  Dudley  was 
to  be  interpreted  as  a  special  token  of  Elizabeth's  favour, 
and  a  sufficient  pledge  of  her  intentions  in  regard  to  the 
succession.  In  her  instructions  to  Randolph  and  Bedford 
for  the  conference  at  Berwick,  she  even  affirmed  that  she 
would  like  nothing  better  than  that  the  Queen  of  Scot- 
land, after  her  marriage  to  Elizabeth's  old  lover,  should 
live  with  her  in  England  in  "  household."  ^  To  impress 
Melville  with  the  earnestness  of  her  desire  for  the  success 
of  Dudley's  suit,  she  caused  Dudley  to  be  created  Baron 
Denbigh  and  Earl  of  Leicester  in  Melville's  presence  ; 
but  she  quite  spoiled  the  impression  she  intended  to 
produce,  by  the  impromptu  of  "  putting  her  hand  to 
Dudley's  neck  to  tickle  him  smilingly."  Elizabeth,  truth 
to  tell,  was,  in  some  respects,  an  utterly  preposterous 
person.  That  she  should  dream  of  the  possibility  of  be- 
fooling Melville  by  such  amusing  pranks,  only  shows  that 
on  certain  occasions  she  was  capable  of  bidding  temporary 
farewell  to  her  common  sense. 

When  Mary — who  had  in  all  minor  matters  an  admir- 
able tact,  acquired  by  quite  a  different  early  training  from 
that  of  Elizabeth — had  from  Melville  his  relation  of  her 
sister  sovereign's  cantrips,  her  amusement  could  have  been 
1  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  80-1, 


292  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


equalled  only  by  her  distrust.  With  her  customary 
directness  she  asked  Melville,  as  he  tells  us,  "  whether 
I  thocht  that  Quen  menit  trewly  towardis  her  as  weill 
inwartly  in  hir  hart  as  sche  apperit  to  do  outwardly  by 
hir  speach  ? "  And  she  could  have  been  in  no  way 
surprised  by  Melville's  answer,  "  that  ther  was  nather  plain 
dealing  nor  vpricht  meanyng,  but  gret  dissimulation,  emula- 
tion and  fear,  that  her  princely  qualities  suld  overschone, 
chace  hir  out,  and  displace  hir  from  the  Kingdom."  ^ 

If  also  anything  had  been  wanting  to  confirm  Melville's 
conviction  as  to  Elizabeth's  insincerity,  this  was  supplied 
by  the  instrument  she  was  utilising  for  her  ridiculous 
expedient.  To  the  newly  made  earl  himself,  the  plight 
in  which  he  was  being  placed  by  Elizabeth  was  so  un- 
comfortable, that  he  could  not  refrain  from  making 
Melville  the  confidant  of  his  perplexities  and  grief.  As 
Melville  w^as  being  carried  by  his  barge  down  the  Thames, 
Leicester  asked  Melville  how  Mary  regarded  the  proposed 
match  ;  and  when  Melville  answered,  as  he  was  instructed 
by  Mary  to  do,  very  coldly,  not  only  was  Leicester's 
amour  propre  stung  to  the  quick  :  he  discerned  that 
his  dilemma  was  both  absurd  and  perilous.  He  therefore 
protested  to  Melville  that  he  had  never  cherished  so  proud 
a  pretence  as  to  marry  the  Scottish  Queen,  that  the  project 
emanated  from  his  enemy  Cecil,  and  that  he  knew  that, 
should  he  himself  show  any  desire  for  the  marriage,  he 
would  lose  the  favour  of  both  Queens.  Apparently  he 
wished  the  farce  ended  as  soon  as  possible. 

Thus — apart  from  the  dispatch  of  Darnley  to  Scotland, 
which  Melville  indirectly  did  much  to  bring  about — 
Melville's  mission  to  England  had  been  successful  entirely 

*  Memoirs,  p.  129. 


y 


After  the  picture  in  the  collection  oj  the  Marquis  uf  :::>alisbitry. 

ROBERT  DUDLEY,  EARL  OF  LEICESTER. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  293 


in  the  manner  that  Mary  had  desired.  It  supplied  her 
with  the  full  and  authentic  information  necessary  to  deal 
with  Elizabeth's  strange  proposal.  She  was  now  certain 
that  Elizabeth  did  not  mean  her  to  marry  Leicester,  that 
the  proposal  was  made  only  to  puzzle  her,  and  to  fan 
hostility  in  Scotland  to  a  foreign  marriage,  and  that  in 
regard  to  the  succession  there  was  nothing  to  be  hoped 
for  from  Elizabeth. 

When  therefore  it  was  arranged  that  commissioners 
from  the  two  queens  should  meet  at  Berwick,  on  November 
1 8th,  to  proceed  gravely  with  the  discussion  of  Elizabeth's 
proposal,  each  party  was  convinced  that  the  other  had 
no  serious  intention  of  coming  to  an  agreement,  though 
neither  party  apparently  knew  how  far  they  were  them- 
selves suspected.  By  "  each  party,"  the  principals,  rather 
than  the  agents,  are  however  to  be  understood.  On 
the  English  side  there  was  perhaps  only  Elizabeth — with 
whom  Cecil  could  hardly  have  been  in  full  sympathy— 
and  on  the  Scottish  side  there  were  Mary  and  Maitland. 
How  far  Moray  coincided  with  the  views  of  Mary  and 
Maitland  we  do  not  know  ;  but  as  a  Protestant  he  may 
have  been  inclined  to  favour  the  Leicester  match,  which 
Mary  of  course  did  not  favour,  and  which  Maitland 
knew  was  a  sheer  impossibility. 

As  for  the  English  commissioners,  Randolph  and 
Bedford,  they  were  evidently  under  the  delusion  that 
Elizabeth's  offer  of  Leicester  was  bona  jide^  though  so  far 
as  concerned  any  arrangement  in  regard  to  the  succession, 
their  instructions^  were  little  better  than  a  farce.  The 
position  taken  up  by  Elizabeth  was  that  Mary  should 
place  her  whole  trust  in  Elizabeth's  goodwill,  of  which 
^  Scottish  Papers,  li.  80-1. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


she  professed  to  have  given  the  strongest  possible  pledge, 
by  offering  her  the  hand  of  her  notorious  lover,  now 
created,  in  Mary's  honour,  Earl  of  Leicester. 

Elizabeth's  idea  was  that  her  grotesque  offer  placed 
Mary  in  a  dilemma,  and  might  embarrass  the  foreign 
negotiations  ;  but,  having  some  fear  that  it  might  be 
accepted,  she  now  showed  a  strong  desire  to  emphasise 
her  disinclination  to  take  any  step  towards  settUng  the 
succession.  So  far  from  seeking  to  allure  the  Scottish 
commissioners  by  specious  promises  as  to  the  succession, 
she  rather  deemed  it  advisable  to  scare  them  from  any 
definite  decision  in  favour  of  Leicester,  by  making  it 
apparent  that  she  would  not  bind  herself  to  exert  herself 
in  any  way  on  Mary's  behalf :  she  instructed  her  com- 
missioners (i)  to  reduce  the  Scottish  commissioners  to  the 
meanest  straits  and  conditions,  and  (2)  to  see  if  her  offer 

is  like  to  take  place." 
Small  wonder  therefore  was  it  that  Mary  and  Maitland 
should  find  the  dealing  of  the    English  commissioners 

marvellous  strange,"  and  conclude  that  nothing  was 
meant  by  it  but  drift  of  time  ;  but  since  they  were  loath 
to  break  off  negotiations,  they  would  report,  they  said, 
what  had  passed,  and  deal  further  with  Randolph  in 
Edinburgh.^ 

This  they  did  ;  but  while  the  sanguine  Randolph 
reported  that  Mary  had  no  great  misliking  of  the  late  con- 
ference," thinking  that  "  things  were  now  more  earnestly 
meant  than  before,"  ^  a  somewhat  different  story  was  told 
by  Moray  and  Maitland  in  their  letters  to  Cecil.  The 
truth  was  that  Randolph  knew  as  little  of  Elizabeth's 
as  of  Mary's  intentions,  and  was  quite  unsuspicious  of 
^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  94.  ^  Ibid.,  95. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  295 


the  farcical  part  he  was  being  made  to  play.  Discerning 
therefore  that  he  was  a  mere  cypher,  Moray  and  Maitland, 
without — so  they  affirmed — the  knowledge  of  Mary, 
resolved  to  make,  through  Cecil,  a  last  appeal  to  Elizabeth's 
good  sense.  To  render  their  appeal  effectual,  they  saw 
it  was  needful  to  represent  their  case  as  urgent — more 
urgent  than  it  really  was  ;  and,  in  a  letter  of  December  3rd, 
they  professed  that  these  practices " — practices  for  a 
foreign  marriage — were  coming  on  so  quickly  that  the 
matter  must  be  determined  one  way  or  another  without 
delay. 

They  themselves,  they  said,  did  not  wish  to  have 
recourse  to  foreign  friendship  could  they  avoid  it,  and 
were  prepared  to  do  what  they  could  to  induce  their 
mistress  to  "  embrace  such  marriage,  friendship  and  alliance 
as  in  reason  ought  to  content "  Elizabeth  ;  but  it  was  above 
all  things  necessary  that  Elizabeth  should  deal  "  frankly  " 
with  them  :  if  she  did  so,  they  would  do  their  utmost  to 
overthrow  "  all  foreign  practices,"  but  if  she  persisted  ii. 
the  course  she  was  following,  she  need  not  find  it  strange 
''yf  we  thereafter  change  our  deliberations  as  caus  shalbe 
ministred,  and  seke  to  salve  our  selffis  the  best  way 
we  can.''  ^ 

As  to  what  course  of  action  on  Elizabeth's  part  would 
satisfy  them,  there  was  probably  some  difference  of  opinion 
between  Moray  and  Maitland  ;  but,  for  various  reasons, 
Moray's  policy  is  more  of  a  mystery  than  Maitland's. 
As  a  precise  Protestant,  Moray  was  seemingly  bent  either 
on  correcting  or  overthrowing  his  sister,  and  he  could  hardly 
be  blind  to  the  probability  that,  in  the  latter  case,  he 
would    be   her   successor.     Maitland's   attitude  towards 

^  Scottish  Papers,  96-7. 


296  MARY   QUEEN   OF  SCOTS 


religion,  on  the  other  hand,  closely  resembled  that  of 
Elizabeth,  and  he  was  troubled  mainly  with  the  political 
difficulties  of  Mary's  Catholicism  :  he  had  nothing  to  gain 
but  everything  to  lose  should  Mary  be  overthrown  ;  his 
main  aim  was  to  make  her  rule  as  great  a  success  as  possible, 
and  to  obtain  with  Elizabeth  an  arrangement  which,  if — 
in  the  unlikely  case  of  Elizabeth  having  children — it  did 
not  lead  to  the  Scottish  inheritance  of  the  English  crown, 
would  remove  a  dangerous  cause  of  discord  between  the 
two  countries. 

Moray  was,  however,  probably  as  much  impressed  as 
Maitland  with  the  dangers  of  the  situation  :  if  he  was 
privately  persuaded  that  the  best  possible  arrangement 
both  for  Scotland  and  himself  was  that  the  crown  should 
be  placed  on  his  own  head,  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  this 
desired  consummation  might  seem  meanwhile  insuperable. 
It  may  even  be  that  he  desired  that  Mary  should  accept 
Leicester.  But  if  this  is  credible  of  Moray  it  is  not  credible 
of  Maitland,  who,  besides  enjoying,  as  he  must  have  done, 
much  more  of  Mary's  confidence  than  her  morose  brother, 
was  untroubled  either  by  such  possible  ambitions  as  those 
of  Moray  or  by  his  conscientious  Protestant  scruples. 

From  Cecil's  reply  to  Moray's  and  Maitland's  letter 
we  learn  that,  at  the  Berwick  conference,  Maitland  proposed 
that  Elizabeth  should,  saving  in  some  places  prohibited," 
allow  Mary  to  marry  where  she  would  ;  and  in  considera- 
tion of  the  prohibition  of  the  influential  suitors — Don 
Carlos,  the  Archduke,  and  Charles  IX.  were  those  whom 
Elizabeth  specially  objected  to — should  grant  her  some 
years'  revenue  out  of  England,  and  by  Parliament  establish 
her  succession  to  the  crown  next  to  that  of  EHzabeth  and 
her  children.     Regarding  this  proposal  Cecil  sarcastically 


MATRIMONIAL   INTRIGUES  297 


remarked  that  he  saw  that  Maitland  could  tell  how  to  make 
a  bargain  ;  ^  but  Maitland  denied  having  spoken  of  any 
revenue  from  England  ;  and  this  being  omitted,  the  bargain 
could  hardly  be  termed  other  than  reasonable  :  indeed  it 
was  the  only  bargain  that  promised  to  meet  the  necessities  of 
the  case.  And  if  Maitland  knew  how  to  make  his  bargain, 
Cecil  revealed  that  Elizabeth  had  really  no  desire  to  make 
a  bargain  of  any  kind.  His  letters  were  a  mere  repetition 
of  the  old  impossible  conditions  in  a  more  burlesque  form 
than  ever.  Elizabeth  would  in  no  way  widen  Mary's  choice 
of  a  suitor.  The  main  recommendation  of  Leicester, 
according  to  Cecil,  was  that  he  "  was  dearly  and  singularly 
esteemed "  [this  was  substituted  for  the  awkward  word 
"  beloved,"  which  was  not  fully  obliterated]  "  of  the  Queen's 
Majesty  "  ;  and  at  the  special  instance  of  EHzabeth  he  had 
to  intimate  that,  in  regard  to  the  succession,  she  would 
proceed  only  "  in  terms  and  conditions  mete  for  friendship, 
but  not  in  waye  of  contractyng."  ^ 

To  such  transparent  trifling  Moray  and  Maitland  could 
only — after  explanations  as  detailed  and  polite  as  those  of 
Cecil — reply,  that  if  Elizabeth  was  determined  to  do 
nothing  in  regard  to  the  succession,  then  (to  speak 
roundly)  may  you  conclude  also  absolutlie  that  we  will 
never  have  the  credit  to  induce  our  mystres  to  marye  ane 
Inglisman."  Indeed,  had  Mary  accepted  the  notorious 
Leicester  on  Elizabeth's  terms,  she  would  have  made 
herself  the  laughing-stock  of  Europe  ;  and,  as  Moray 
and  Maitland  said,  while  they  could  not  press  Elizabeth 
to  do  what  she  was  not  inclined  to  do,  so  they  saw  no 
reason  why  the  present  amity  should  be  dissolved,"  though 
their  mistress  married  where  her  heart  was  best  inclined.^ 


^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  103. 


'  Ibid.,  ii.  104. 


3  Ibid.,  109. 


298  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Subsequently,  Maitland,  on  his  own  account,  continued 
to  ply  Cecil  with  arguments  and  appeals  :  and  in  the  last 
one,  of  February  ist,  1564-5,  he,  in  order,  if  he  could,  to 
kindle  an  answering  enthusiasm  in  Cecil,  professed  to  lay 
bare  to  him  his  heart.  As  no  man's  heart,  he  said,  was  void 
of  ambition,  he  already  imagined  within  himself  what  glory 
it  would  be  for  Cecil  and  himself,  not  only  in  life  but  after 
death,  in  the  mouthes  of  posterity,  to  be  named  as  medlars 
and  chefe  doars  in  so  godly  and  honorable  a  work  as  is 
the  union  off  these  two  nations,  which  so  long  have  con- 
tinewed  ennemyes,  to  the  greate  decay  off  both  "  ;  and  he 
strove  to  fascinate  the  very  English  Cecil  with  the  imagina- 
tion of  how,  in  this  case,  their  report  with  posterity,  in  ages 
to  come,  would  be  more  honourable  than  even  those  that 
did  most  vailyeantly  serve  King  Edward  the  First  in  his 
conquest,  or  Kyng  Robert  the  Bruce  in  the  recovery  of 
his  countrey."  ^ 

But  even  had  Cecil  been  capable  of  being  moved  by 
the  higher  patriotism  that  inspired  this  splendid  letter,  he 
was  hopelessly  hampered  by  the  whimsical  selfishness  of 
Elizabeth  ;  while  of  course  Mary  was  in  no  way  devoted 
to  either  country.  Thus  the  two  Queens,  between  them, 
deprived  Cecil  and  Maitland  of  the  glory  which  Maitland 
fondly  hoped  might  last  for  them,  when,  otherwise,  the 
memory  of  both  would  be  brought  to  oblivion.  Though 
not  for  long  ages  will  obHvion  overtake  the  memory  of 
either,  the  glory  of  neither  is  exactly  what  Maitland  hoped 
it  might  be  ;  but  if  Maitland's  reputation  with  posterity  is 
somewhat  tainted,  the  nature  of  his  difficulties  and  perils 
has  to  be  considered.  Moreover,  the  taint  may  possibly  be 
shown  to  have  been  partly  imaginary  ;  and  in  any  case  he 
^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  118. 


MATRIMONIAL  INTRIGUES  299 


cannot  be  robbed  of  the  glory  of  having  done  his  utmost 
to  avert  the  calamities  that  were  now  awaiting  his  country 
and  his  queen. 

As  for  Mary,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  she  could  have 
acted  otherwise  than  she  was  doing.  The  wholly  gulled 
Randolph— gulled  by  his  own  mistress — still  diligent  in 
what  he  did  not  know  was  a  mere  fool's  errand,  had  come 
in  the  beginning  of  February  to  St.  Andrews,  bent  as 
before  on  furthering  Elizabeth's  insincere  proposal.  There 
he  found  the  Queen  in  a  merchant's  house,  living  in  that 
quietness  and  simplicity  for  which  she  often  took  a  fancy. 
She  was  apparently  in  high  spirits  ;  and,  telling  the  anxious- 
minded  diplomatist  that  she  merely  wished  him,  meanwhile, 
to  be  merrie,  and  to  see  howe  like  a  bourgeois  wife  "  she 
could  live  with  her  "  little  troupe,"  gaily  upbraided  him 
for  seeking  to  interrupt  her  pastimes  with  "  his  greate  and 
grave  matters." 

One  day,  however,  when  riding  out  with  him  after 
dinner,  she  thought  fit  to  talk  to  him  of  France,  of  the 
honour  she  had  received  "  to  be  wyfe  unto  a  greate  Kinge," 
of  the  many  friends  she  still  had  there,  of  the  close  con- 
nection still  subsisting  between  France  and  Scotland,  and 
of  how  her  relatives  had  pressed  her,  and  were  still  pressing 
her,  to  agree  to  their  desires  in  her  marriage. 

How  then,  she  asked,  could  any  one  advise  her  to  forsake 
friendship  offered  and  present  commodotie  '*  for  mere 
uncertainty  }  Would  even  Elizabeth  approve  her  wisdom 
in  doing  so  ?  And  when  the  well-meaning,  but  blundering, 
Randolph  sought  to  use  the  opportunity  to  press  for  an 
answer  to  the  Leicester  suit,  she,  with  a  grave  face,  professed 
her  readiness  to  place  herself  in  his  "  mistress  will,'*  if 
Elizabeth  would  only  remove   the  succession  stumbling- 


300 


MARY   QUEEN   OF  SCOTS 


block.  She  altogether  preferred  that,  inhabiting  the  same 
isle,  they  should  live  together  as  sisters,  rather  than  that 
they  should  become  estranged  to  the  hurt  of  both  ;  but  she 
warned  him  that  unless  they  came  to  a  definite  friendly 
agreement,  it  would  pass  the  power  of  both  of  them  to  live 
as  friends,  whatever  they  might  say  or  do.^ 

So  far  as  argument  went,  Mary  had  as  much  the  better 
of  Randolph  as  Maitland  had  of  Cecil  ;  and  her  warning 
was  to  be  amply  justified.  To  give  special  point  to  it 
she  caused  her  ambassador  in  Paris  to  adopt  various  methods 
to  impress  the  English  ambassador  with  the  notion  that 
she  was  then  engaged  in  France  in  negotiations  of  great 
importance. - 

They  were,  however,  only  so  far  effective  that  they  con- 
vinced Elizabeth  of  the  need  of  inventing  a  new  diversion, 
which,  if  it  could  not  turn  Mary  from  her  supposed  inten- 
tion of  accepting  a  foreign  suitor,  would  at  least  embarrass 
and  complicate  the  situation.  She  now  permitted  Darnley 
to  pay  a  visit  to  Scotland  ;  but  she  had  as  little  desire  that 
Mary  should  marry  Darnley  as  she  had  that  Mary  should 
marry  Leicester.  Had  she  wished  her  to  marry  Darnley 
she  had  only  to  say  so,  and  Mary  would  not  have  boggled 
at  Elizabeth's  lack  of  definiteness  about  the  succession : 
for  in  the  end  she  accepted  Darnley  not  only  without  any 
arrangement  about  the  succession,  but  without  Elizabeth's 
leave.  Married  to  Darnley,  she  v/as  prepared  to  take  her 
chance  as  to  the  succession  ;  and  had  Elizabeth  remained 
friendly,  this  was  perhaps  the  one  arrangement  that  could 
have  met  the  necessities  of  the  case.  No  other  marriage 
could  have  been  more  accordant  with  Maitland's  wishes, 
for  no  other  rendered  the  succession  so  secure  ;  and  while, 

^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  120-3.  -  Labanoff,  i.  259. 


MATRIMONIAL   INTRIGUES  301 

with  Elizabeth  supporting  Mary  in  her  choice,  Moray- 
could  not  have  ventured,  as  he  did,  to  oppose  the  marriage, 
it  would  probably  have  been  acceptable  to  all  but  the  more 
extreme  Protestants  ;  for  in  Elizabeth  they  would  have 
had  a  pledge  of  Protestant  support. 

But  for  her  antipathy  to  the  Knoxian  Protestantism, 
Mary,  in  such  a  case,  would  have  been  deprived  of  any 
strong  political  reason  for  persisting  in  her  efforts  to  main- 
tain Catholicism.  It  was  really  the  political  necessity  created 
by  the  underhand  hostility  of  Elizabeth,  that  was  to  drive 
Mary  towards  the  wild  project  for  the  restoration  of 
Catholicism  that  was  to  work  her  ruin. 

Darnley's  arrival  in  Scotland  at  this  particular  juncture 
exactly  harmonised  with  the  process  of  circumstances  and 
events  which,  with  an  inevitableness  almost  appalling  in 
its  precision,  was  dooming  Mary  to  disaster.  The  first 
part  of  the  process  had  now  been  completed.  France  had 
done  for  her  all  that  it  was  to  do.  There  her  character 
had  been  formed,  her  ecclesiastical  leanings  determined, 
her  peculiar  aspirations  and  ambitions  awakened,  her  tastes, 
opinions  and  habits  matured.  During  her  earlier  years  her 
relatives  of  Guise  had  been  entirely  devoted  to  her  interests, 
and  for  their  own  sakes — more  than  hers,  though  they 
were  sincerely  attached  to  her — they  had  raised  her  to  the 
great  position  of  Queen-Consort  of  France.  But  to  her 
and  her  French  relatives  the  whirligig  of  time  had  brought 
rivalry,  instead  of  the  old  unity,  of  interests. 

By  doing  his  utmost — for  selfish  reasons  of  his  own — 
to  prevent  the  Don  Carlos  marriage,  which  he  had  formerly 
suggested  and  promoted,  the  Cardinal  had  put  a  term  to 
Mary's  confidence  in  him  ;  he  had  formed  her  after  a  model 
of  his  own,  but  had  been  compelled  to  place  her  beyond 


302 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


his  immediate  influence.  She  was  no  longer  prepared 
implicitly  to  accept  his  political  guidance  ;  she  scorned 
the  political  advantages  he  was  professing  to  secure  for 
her  ;  and  he  had  now  practically  ceased  to  be  a  factor  in 
the  determination  of  her  future.  Unhappily,  in  robbing 
her  of  Don  Carlos — personally  undesirable  though  he  was — 
the  Cardinal  had,  her  training  and  circumstances  being  such 
as  they  were,  deprived  her  of  what  was  almost  her  one 
chance  of  political  salvation.  He  had  placed  her  in  a 
political  bog  from  which  extrication  was  hardly  possible. 
There  was  just  a  chance  of  extrication  by  the  Darnley 
marriage  :  there  was  apparently  no  other  chance  ;  but  this 
chance,  if  badly  used,  might  simply  sink  her,  as  it  did, 
deeper  in  difficulties  than  ever. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE 

ON  Mary  refusing  to  prohibit  or  delay  the  return  of 
Lennox  to  Scotland,  Elizabeth  had  hardly  other 
option  than  to  allow  him  to  visit  it ;  and,  having  determined 
to  permit  his  visit,  she  had  to  adopt  the  attitude  of  seeking 
to  further  his  interests  there.  It  was  on  the  "  recommenda- 
tion of  her  good  sister,  the  quene  of  England,"  that  Mary 
suggested  to  the  Council  his  restoration  to  his  estates, 
which  was  proclaimed  at  the  Cross  of  Edinburgh  on 
October  9th,  1564,  and  confirmed  by  Parliament  in  the 
following  December.  Ostensibly  also  to  show  her  goodwill 
to  Elizabeth,  Mary  paid  elaborate  attention  to  his  comfort 
— furnished  his  lodgings  with  hangings  and  costly  beds  of 
her  own,  entertained  him  at  those  splendid  banquets  in 
which  she  specially  delighted,  and  arranged  a  series  of 
pastimes  and  festivities  in  his  honour. 

On  October  27th  she  also  formally  reconciled  Lennox 
to  his  ancient  rival,  the  weakly  foolish  old  Duke  of 
Chatelherault,  whose  fortunes  had  now  fallen  on  very  evil 
days,  his  fond  daydreams  as  to  the  future  royal  greatness 
of  his  house  having  been  altogether  behed,  and  belied  in 
a  manner  that  was  peculiarly  disheartening.  On  the  part 
neither  of  Lennox  nor  the  Duke  could  there  be  any  sincerity 
in  the  reconciliation.    Indeed   the  two  rivals  could  not 

303 


304 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


have  spoken  together  in  private  without  a  violent  quarrel, 
and  never  could  be  other  than  mortal  foes.  Randolph 
relates  that  they  never  met  but  in  the  Princes'  sight," 
and  that  the  Duke  assured  him  that  nothinor  was  meant 
by  the  arrival  of  Lennox  than  the  undoing  of  his  house,  his 
only  hope  now  being  in  God  and  Elizabeth.^  Necessarily 
the  restoration  of  Lennox  to  his  estates  was  a  great  blow 
to  the  power  of  the  Duke  in  the  west  of  Scotland,  but  it 
soon  began  to  appear  that  he  had  a  much  greater  errand 
in  view. 

To  allay  the  apprehensions  of  the  Protestants,  Lennox 
made  it  a  point  to  be  specially  exemplary  in  his  attendance 
at  "  the  sermonde  "  ;  to  aid  his  popularity  among  the  nobles 
he  made  great cheer  "  at  his  lodgings,  where,  besides  dining 
many  of  the  lords,  he  banqueted  the  four  Maries  and 
some  other  delicate  dames  "  in  attendance  on  the  Queen  ; 
he  also  entertained  the  Queen  herself  at  supper,  on  which 
occasion  she  favoured  him  with  a  display  of  her  accomplish- 
ments as  a  dancer,  and,  afterwards  playing  with  him  at 
dice,  lost  to  him  a  jewel  of  crystal  set  in  gold  ;  he  spent 
his  money  more  lavishly  than  he  even  could  afford  ;  and 
he  presented  also  choice  and  costly  presents — sent  by  his 
clever  and  eager  wife  Meg  from  London,  through  Sir 
James  Melville — to  the  Queen  and  the  principal  lords. 
The  o-eneral  rumour  in  Scotland  towards  the  end  of  October 

o 

was  that  both  the  Countess  and  Darnley  were  on  their 
way  to  Scotland  ;  and  Randolph  found  that  there  was  a 
"  marvellous  good  liking  of  the  young  lord,"  and  that  many 
desired  to  have  him  in  Scotland. 

According  to  the  same   authority,  Lennox  was  also 
"  well  friended  of  Lethington,"  who,  it  was  supposed, 
1  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  91.  ^  jn^i^  gS. 


After  the  picture  in  the  Royal  Collection. 


MATTHEW  STEWART,  EARL  OF  LENXOX. 
Regent  of  Scotland. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE  305 


would  bear  much  with  the  Stewarts,"  by  reason  of  his 
love  to  Mary  Fleming.^  The  Darnley  match  was  already 
"  through  all  men's  mouths,"  as  a  "thing  concluded  in  the 
Queen's  heart  "  ;  and  it  was  asserted  that  Lethington  was 
wholly  "  bent  that  way."  Randolph,  indeed,  thought  that  he 
had  good  reasons  to  suppose  the  contrary,  both  in  regard  to 
Lethington  and  the  Queen  ;  but  he  was  able  to  "  assure  " 
Cecil  of  nothing,  "  mens  doings  so  alter,  and  their  minds 
so  uncertain  that  he  is  wisest  who  assures  leist." 

The  reports  of  Randolph,  so  far  from  disconcerting 
Elizabeth,  apparently  only  confirmed  her  in  her  resolve  to 
fly  the  Darnley  kite.  If  a  definite  foreign  marriage  was 
contemplated  by  Mary,  the  presence  of  Daridey  in  Scotland 
might  not  turn  her  from  her  purpose,  but  it  would  at  least 
add  to  the  prevailing  political  confusion.  Thus,  shortly 
after  his  long  conference  with  Mary  at  St.  Andrews, 
Randolph  learned  to  his  utter  bewilderment  that  Leicester, 
as  well  as  Cecil,  had  made  "  earnest  means  "  for  Darnley's 
license  to  come  to  Scotland,  and  that  their  inexplicable 
request  had  been  granted.  He  was,  however,  sent  solely 
at  the  instance  of  Lady  Lennox,  who  again  represented 
the  visit  as  a  mere  family  affair — he  was  to  see  the  country 
and  the  Scottish  estates  and  to  return  to  England  with 
his  father. 

Thus  Elizabeth  gave  neither  encouragement  nor 
warning  about  the  Darnley  suit.  She  was  professedly  as 
anxious  as  ever  for  the  success  of  that  of  Leicester  ;  but 
if  she  was,  then  it  was  merely  absurd  to  put  Darnley  in 
Mary's  way.  She  could  have,  therefore,  no  other  intention 
than  mischief.  With  the  foreign  match,  the  Leicester 
match,  and  the  Darnley  match  to  divide  and  bewilder 
^  Scottish  Papers ^  ii.  86. 
VOL.   I.  20 


3o6  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Scottish  opinion,  Mary,  Elizabeth  may  well  have  hoped, 

would  be  very  much  puzzled  how  to  decide  ;  or,  should 

she  decide,  the  difficulty  of  realising  her  hopes  might  be 

insuperable.     What  led  Elizabeth  so  utterly  astray  was 

that  the   supposed    foreign  negotiations   were — much  of 

course  to  Mary's  regret — a  mere  myth. 

By  what  was  thus  clearly  a  false  step  in  Elizabeth's 

diplomacy,  it  came  about  that  on  February  i8th,  1564-5, 

Mary,  at  Wemyss  Castle,  on  the  beautiful  shores  of  Fife, 

met  her     fate,"  in  the  person  of  the  long,  lady-faced  lad 

who,  when  Melville  was  in  London,  appeared  to  be  so  high 

in  the  good  graces  of  Elizabeth.    Ostensibly  the  two  cousins 

— who  were  to  influence  so  darkly  each  other's  fate — met 

merely  as  relatives  ;  but  probably  Lennox  had,  on  his  son's 

behalf,  made  some  kind  of  marriage  overture  to  Mary, 

for  she  told  Melville  that  at  first  she  took  his  proposals 

in  evil  part,  though  she  was  favourably  impressed  by  him 

as  "  the  lustiest  and  best  proportioned  lang  man  she  had 
'>  1 

sean. 

A  tall  and  athletic  youth  of  some  nineteen  years  of  age, 
remarkably  well  set  up  by  the  diligent  practice  of  manly 
exercises,  Darnley  had  also  been  carefully  trained  in  music, 
dancing,  and  the  more  graceful  accomplishments  ;  and  his 
late  attendance  on  Queen  Elizabeth  must  have  helped  to 
give  ease  and  readiness  to  his  address.  His  appearance 
and  manner  were  at  first  rather  prepossessing,  and,  until 
his  head  had  become  turned  by  the  success  of  his  visit, 
his  courtesy  gained  him  general  approval.  But  his  essential 
defects  of  character  could  not  long  be  hid  ;  and  his  new 
circumstances  acted  with  the  artificial  power  of  a  hothouse 
in  developing  them.    On  a  first  acquaintance  he  was,  to 

^  Memoirs,  p.  134, 


From  the  picture  in  the  collection  of  the  late  Earl  of  Scaforth. 

HENRY  STEWART,  LORD  DARNLEY, 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE  307 


use  Randolph*s  words,  well  liked  for  his  personage  ;  but 
so  soon  as  he  became  familiar  he  generally  aroused  hostility 
mingled  with  contempt.  His  bodily  size  and  strength 
belied  the  character  of  his  personality.  Though  expressing 
a  certain  physical  vigour,  his  self-assured,  yet  babyish 
countenance,  crowned  by  its  close-cropped  yellow  hair^ — 
for,  like  Mary  and  her  brother  Moray,^  he  had  the  princely 
complexion  of  the  royal  Stewarts  of  those  days — was  both 
intellectually  and  morally  weak  ;  and  while  doltish,  proud, 
obstinate  and  passionate,  he  yet,  physically  strong  though 
he  was,  possessed,  as  Mary,  to  her  utter  contempt,  was  to 
discover,  a     heart  of  wax." 

It  was  not,  probably,  till  she  married  him  that  Mary 
plumbed  the  depths  of  Darnley's  inanity  ;  but,  with  her 
clever  wits  sharpened  by  her  experience  in  such  a  school  of 
human  nature  as  the  French  court,  can  it  be  credited  that 
she  fell  blindly  in  love  with  this  raw  and  conceited  boy  ? 
Or  is  any  such  theory  needed  to  account  for  her  eager  deter- 
mination to  marry  him  at  all  hazards  !  Since  what  the  pious 
would  term  the  "  leadings  of  Providence  had  apparentlv 
decided  that,  if  her  political  aims  were  to  be  accomplished, 
her  choice  of  suitors  was  now  restricted  to  the  fayre 
yollye  yong  man,"  she  was  naturally  disposed  to  take  the 
most  favourable  view  of  him  she  could  ;  and  she  may 
very  well  have  thought — as  women  are  apt  to  think — that 
she  would  be  able  to  fashion  him  into  something  much 
better  than  he  was. 

Also,  when  all  was  said,  Darnley  was  quite  as  presentable 
a  husband  as  either  the  sickly  and  fractious  Francis  II. — 
whom,  for  the  sake  of  the  fair  kingdom  of  France,  she  would 

^  Moray  was  not  the  black-avised  person  that  Mr.  Hewlett,  in  the  Queen's 
Quair,  makes  him  out  to 


3o8  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


again  have  been  prepared  quite  joyfully  to  welcome  as  a 
nominal  husband,  had  a  second  choice  of  him  been  possible — 
or  the  half-mad  Don  Carlos,  of  whose  lurid  peculiarities 
she  must  have  learned  something  from  her  sister-in-law, 
but  whom  she  nevertheless  deemed,  with  his  great  pos- 
sessions, the  best  possible  husband  the  wide  world  could 
afford  her.  Since  the  friends  of  Don  Carlos  would 
have  none  of  her,  she  was  fain  to  be  content  with  the 
strong  but  stupid  stripling,  whom  her  old  friend  the 
Cardinal  and  her  deadly  rival  Elizabeth  had  practically, 
though  quite  against  their  real  intentions,  foisted  upon  her. 
In  himself,  he  was  no  fitting  match  for  her,  and  she 
would  not  have  looked  over  her  shoulder  to  him,  had 
he  not  been,  apparently,  both  the  one  means  of  deliverance 
from  her  desperate  political  difRculties,  and  the  best  means 
of  attaining,  for  herself  or  her  descendants,  the  English 
throne. 

After  staying  a  night  at  Wemyss  Castle,  Darnley 
paid  a  visit  to  his  father,  then  residing  with  his  great 
friend,  Atholl  ;  but  on  Mary's  return  from  Fife  he  proceeded 
to  Edinburgh,  his  purpose  evidently  being  to  lay  siege 
to  the  heart  of  the  illustrious  and  world-famed  beauty. 
On  Sunday,  February  26th,  Randolph  and  he  were  enter- 
tained by  the  circumspect  and  secretly  pondering  Moray  to 
dinner.  Never  perhaps  did  three  persons  meet  at  a  meal, 
on  such  apparently  cordial  terms  with  each  other,  who 
in  their  secret  intentions  were  so  entirely  at  logger-heads. 
But  as  yet  their  antagonism  was  merely  in  the  chrysalis 
stage.  The  brusquely  polite  Moray  was  no  doubt  taking 
his  own  soundings  of  the  shallow  but  self-confident  boy 
he  was  entertaining ;  the  boy  was  probably  inwardly 
resenting  the  great  state  of  the  bastard,   and  his  quiet 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE 


assumptions  of  superiority  ;  and  the  deluded  Randolph 
was  content  to  write  to  Cecil  that  Darnley's  behaviour 
was  "very  well  liked."  After  dinner  Darnley  accompanied 
Moray  to  the  kirk  to  hear  Knox  preach  ;  but  neither  of 
the  thoughts  of  Knox  when  he  saw  him  there,  nor  of  the 
words  which  Knox  uttered  on  this  notable  occasion,  nor 
of  the  remarks  of  the  ill-assorted  pair,  Darnley  and  Moray, 
as  they  left  the  sacred  building,  have  we  any  record.  In  the 
evening  the  Queen  and  her  ladies,  as  well  as  Darnley,  were 
Moray's  guests  ;  and,  after  Darnley  had  seen  the  Queen  and 
various  ladies  dance,  Darnley,  at  Moray's  suggestion,  led 
out  the  Queen  and  they  danced  a  galliard  together. 

What  were  Moray's  intentions  in  this  friendly  patron- 
age of  Darnley  ?  Was  he  simply  obeying  his  sister's 
suggestion,  was  he  seeking  to  humour  her  so  as  to  prevent 
her  taking  any  hasty  resolution,  or  did  he  think  that 
Darnley's  marriage  might  be  feasible,  if  the  opposition  of 
Elizabeth  could  be  overcome,  or  was  he  simply  leading 
her  on  towards  a  fatal  false  step  ?  It  is  hard  to  tell  what 
he  meant  ;  but  we  must  believe  that  he  was  now  cognisant 
that  a  great  crisis  was  approaching,  which  would  test  to 
the  utmost  his  courage  and  his  wit. 

As  for  Mary,  we  are  told  by  Randolph  that  from. 
her  tour  round  the  coasts  of  Fife  she  had,  notwithstanding 
the  cold  and  storms,  returned  lustier  than  when  she 
went  forth."  ^  Life  was  acquiring  a  new  interest  to  her, 
not  because  of  the  mere  prospect  of  her  marriage  to  a 
silly  boy,  but  because  her  long  wait  for  something  to 
turn  up  was  reaching  its  close,  and  negotiations,  uncertainty, 
and  suspense  would  soon  be  at  an  end.  If  Elizabeth 
had  determined  not  to  untie  for  her  the  Gordian  knot, 

*  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  128. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


she  had  determined  to  cut  it.  She  knew  that  the  peril 
of  doing  so  must  needs  be  great,  but  she  possessed  in  an 
extreme  degree  the  womanly  faith  that  would,  if  it  could, 
jemove  mountains  ;  and  peril  had  greater  attractions  for 
her  than  dull  monotony. 

Randolph,  who,  as  representative  of  Elizabeth  in 
Scotland,  had  been  fraternising  with  Darnley — lending  him 
horses  and  doing  him,  as  he  said,  all  the  honour  and 
service  he  could — had,  deluded  simpleton  that  he  was,  got 
to  entertain  the  conviction  that  Mary  had  not  the  least 
thought  of  marrying  Darnley,  since,  so  he  supposed,  it 
was  Elizabeth's  good  pleasure  that  she  should  marry 
Leicester  :  her  frequent  and  friendly  talks  with  Darnley 
he  was  attributing  to  "  her  own  courteous  nature."  ^ 
Elizabeth's  still  hopelessly  dubious  reply  about  the  suc- 
cession appeared  to  give  Mary  discontent  ;  but  the  story 
of  Randolph,  that  it  had  caused  her  to  "  weap  her  full  "  is 
not  to  be  credited.  The  fact  was  that  Elizabeth  was 
now  playing  exactly  the  game  that  Mary  desired  :  she 
was  demonstrating  that  the  Leicester  suit  was  a  mere 
impossibility.  The  Darnley  suit,  on  the  contrary,  would 
strengthen  Mary's  claims  on  the  succession,  whatever 
Elizabeth  might  do  ;  and  thus  it  specially  appealed  to  a 
Scottish  sentiment  that  was  deeper  than  the  religious  con- 
tentions of  the  hour. 

That  it  was  Darnley 's  attack  of  measles  at  Stirling 
in  April  that  sealed  Mary's  fate  cannot  be  entertained, 
for  she  had  hardly  other  choice  than  to  let  her  fate  be 
sealed.  As  to  the  extent  of  her  attendance  on  him  in 
his  sick  chamber,  this,  most  likely,  was  grossly  exaggerated. 
His  sickness  was  bound,  of  course,  to  cause  her  the  gravest 
^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  1 36. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE  311 


concern  ;  and  knowing  how  violently  opposed  the  extreme 
Protestants  were  to  the  marriage,  she  could  hardly  be 
certain  that  he  might  not  fall  a  victim  to  some  kind  of 
unfair  play.  If  devoted  love  between  her  and  Darnley 
was  impossible,  she  had,  at  least,  a  strong  friendly,  as 
well  as  selfish,  interest  in  his  welfare  ;  and,  never  a 
stickler  for  the  conventions,  she  was  prepared  to  brave 
them  in  order  to  know  for  herself  how  he  was  faring. 
But  the  source  of  the  more  definite  statements  regarding  her 
visits  to  Darnley  is  quite  unreliable  :  they  emanated  from 
the  boasts  of  Lennox's  man,  founded  on  what  Randolph 
terms  the  fond  tales  and  foolish  reports  "  of  chattering 
domestics.  Rumour  was  now  having  a  quite  golden 
opportunity,  and  was  making  the  most  of  it. 

As  for  Lady  Lennox,  she  was  in  such  a  condition  of 
maternal  anticipation  as  to  be  prepared  to  believe  any- 
thing ;  and  that  she  should — apparently  on  the  testimony 
of  Lennox's  man — assure  de  Silva  that  Mary  had  spent 
a  whole  night  in  her  beloved  son's  chamber,  is  probably 
proof  of  nothing  more  than  that  Mary  had,  to  avoid  curious 
observation,  gone  to  visit  him  after  nightfall.  Randolph, 
who  was  at  Stirling  at  the  time,  neither  saw  nor  learned 
anything  notable,  though  he  tells  us  that  sometimes  a  re- 
version of  meat  came  from  the  Queen's  table  to  the  patient, 
and  that  the  Queen's  familiarity  bred  no  small  suspicion 
that  there  was  more  intended  than  merely  giving  him 
honour  for  Elizabeth's  sake.^  Of  course,  if  all  that  was 
reported  was  true,  Mary  had  practically  committed  her- 
self to  the  match  ;  but  Elizabeth,  who  taxed  her  with 
attending  on  Darnley,  notwithstanding  the  infectiousness 
of  the  disease,  saw  nothing  wrong  in  this,  if  Mary  intended 
*  Scottish  Papers^  ii.  142. 


312 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


to  marry  him — as  how  could  she,  since  Mary  was  behaving 
;vith  much  more  propriety  towards  Darnley  than  EHzabeth 
was  behaving  towards  Leicester  ?  Her  one  objection  to 
Mary's  conduct  was  that  it  seemed  to  be  an  unmistakable 
sign  that  Mary  had  taken  her  bait ;  she  desired  that  she 
should  take  it,  but  only  that  she  might  be  tortured,  not 
caught,  and  her  aim  was  now  to  remove  the  hook.  She  now 
charged  her — as  if  it  had  been  a  crime — with  such  a  desire 
to  marry  Darnley  that  "  if  others  had  not  been  scrupulous 
and  fearful  to  assist  the  same,  she  had  been  affyed  [affianced] 
to  him."  ^ 

According  to  an  anonymous  Memoire^  Mary  was 
secretly  married  to  Darnley  by  a  priest  introduced  into  the 
castle  by  Riccio  ;  but  this  is  apparently  a  mere  inference 
founded  on  a  statement  of  de  Foix,  the  French  ambassador 
in  London,  that  Randolph,  in  a  letter  brought  by  Maitland, 
stated  that  Mary  was  already  married  to  Darnley  without 
waiting  for  the  ceremonies  of  the  Church  ;  ^  while  Randolph 
certainly  wrote  nothing  of  the  kind.  About  the  same 
time,  Lady  Margaret  told  de  Silva  that  the  negotiations 
were  proceeding  favourably  ;  and,  two  days  later,  she  stated 
that  the  marriage  was  a  settled  thing.^  No  doubt  she  had 
good  reason  to  be  very  sanguine  ;  but,  probably,  she  also 
wished  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  further  negotiations 
with  Spain.  Darnley  and  Mary  may,  at  this  time,  have 
pledged  themselves  to  one  another  :  what  renders  even  this 
unlikely,  was  the  commission  Mary  gave  to  Maitland  to 
state  to  de  Silva  that  her  wishes  in  regard  to  Don  Carlos 
were  unchanged,  should  Philip  even  yet  desire  to  reopen 
negotiations.^ 

*  Scottish  Papers,  146.       ^  Labanoff,  vii.  66.  ^  Teulet,  ii.  193. 

*  Spanish  State  Papers,  ii.  1558-67,  pp.  420,  427.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  421. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE  313 


Major  Martin  Hume  has  advanced  the  opinion  that 
Mary's  better  plan  at  this  time  would  have  been  to  have 
played  the  same  game  in  Scotland  that  Elizabeth  was  doing 
in  England  :  to  have  kept  all  parties  in  expectancy,  by 
refraining  from  committing  herself  to  any  definite  arrange- 
ment ;  ^  but  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  Mary  could  have 
deferred  her  inevitable  choice,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
Darnley  could  not  be  detained  for  an  indefinite  time  in 
Scotland.  His  father's  leave,  which  had  been  renewed  for 
another  three  m.onths,  would  probably  not  be  renewed  again  : 
it  was  thus  only  by  making  the  most  of  the  time  at  her 
disposal  that  Mary  could  outwit  Elizabeth.  Apart  from 
this,  Mary's  position  in  Scotland  was  not  on  all  fours  with 
that  of  Elizabeth  in  England.  Her  throne  in  Scotland 
was  virtually  the  crater  of  a  volcano.  Probably  her  one 
chance  of  safety  depended  on  her  ability  to  make  such  a 
marriage  as  would  satisfy  Scottish  sentiment  in  regard  to 
the  succession — this  apart  from  her  own  strong  wish  on 
the  subject.  Had  she  been  content  to  be  flouted  and 
befooled  by  Elizabeth,  and  had  Scotland,  also,  been  so 
content,  then  she  might  have  delayed  to  grasp  what  was 
now  within  her  reach  :  but  since  neither  she  nor  Scotland 
were  so  content,  she  had  hardly  any  choice  but  to  marry 
Darnley,  and  it  was  really  a  question  of  now  or  never. 
The  adventure  was  quite  as  dubious  and  dark  as  her  return 
to  Scotland  ;  but  it  was  its  inevitable  consequence,  and  she 
undertook  it  in  a  spirit  of  much  greater  hopefulness. 

Events  were  now  rapidly  reaching  a  crisis,  and  the 
leading  political  personages,  who  had  kept  the  peace,  in 
such  unnatural   circumstances,  so  long,  were  getting  in 
readiness  for  a  near  termination  of  the  truce.    As  for  the 
1  Love  Affairs,  p.  225. 


314  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 

Protestants,  Randolph,  on  April  i8th,  wrote  that  "the 
Godly  cry  out  that  they  are  undone — no  hope  now  of 
the  sure  establishment  of  Christ's  true  religion  ;  "  ^  and 
although,  for  various  reasons,  there  was  likely  to  be  a 
division  in  their  camp,  yet  the  irrepressible  Knox  was  a 
host  in  himself — or,  as  he  might  have  put  it,  as  much  to 
be  feared  "as  10,000  armed  men."  For  some  time  he 
had  been  refraining  from  political  comment,  it  may  be  in 
the  hope  that,  after  all,  Mary  might  accept  the  disreputable 
Leicester,  whom  he  had  been  exhorting,  as  we  have  seen, 
to  purify  the  Church  of  England.  In  June,  1564,  he 
had  been  brought  before  the  Council  for  praying  that  the 
Lord  would  purge  the  Queen  from  idolatry  and  "  deliver 
hir  from  the  boundage  and  thraldom  of  Sathan  in  the 
quhilk  sche  has  been  brought  up  and  yet  remains  for 
the  lack  of  true  doctrine  ;  "  ^  but  whether  the  exhortation 
of  the  Council  led  him  to  modify  his  petition,  or  caused 
him  to  drop  praying  for  the  Queen  altogether,  we  have 
no  record. 

In  March  the  marriage  of  Knox  to  Margaret  Stewart, 
a  girl  of  seventeen,  and  daughter  of  Lord  Ochiltree,  had 
caused  the  tongues  of  all  Scotland  to  wag,  and  many  of 
his  own  friends  to  wonder  ;  while  the  Queen,  when  she 
learned  his  intentions,  stormed  and  raged,  even  threatening 
to  expel  him  from  Scotland,  for  presuming  to  marry  one 
of  her  own  "  blood  and  name."  ^    Even  if  born  not  in 

1  Scottish  Paper Sy  i.  144.  ^  Knox,  Works,  ii.  428. 

'  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  54 ;  Nicol  Burne  (in  his  Disptdatio?t  concerning  the 
Controversit  Headdis  of  Religiofi,  1581)  represents  Knox  as  riding  to  his 
courtship  "  with  ane  great  court  on  ane  trim  gelding,  nocht  lyke  ane 
prophet  or  ane  auld  decrepit  priest,  as  he  was,  boi  lyk  as  he  had  bene  ane 
of  the  blud  royal,  with  his  bendis  of  taffetie  feschnit  with  golden  ringis  and 
precious  stanes,"  etc. 


THE  DARNLEY  Mx\RRIAGE  315 


1505  but  in  1 5 13,  he  was  now — wasted  as  he  was  by  his 
tremendous  task — well  stricken  in  years,  and  within  another 
eight  he  was  to  die  from  sheer  physical  exhaustion.  We 
must  suppose  that  this  young  girl,  in  the  early  bloom  of 
womanhood,  had  taken  a  pious  fancy  to  him  ;  but  in 
marrying  her  he  was,  most  likely,  actuated — as  Mary 
in  the  case  of  Darnley — more  by  ambition  than  by  love. 
He  had  much  of  the  wordly  wisdom  of  the  Catholic 
ecclesiastics,  and  quite  understood  the  advantages — from 
what  he  would  deem  the  religious  point  of  view — of 
placing  himself  in  a  good  social  position,  a  position  that 
would  bring  him  into  closer  social  contact  with  the  nobility, 
and  help  him  to  regain  the  hold  on  them  that  he  had  partly 
lost.  After  June  of  this  year,  and  probably  until  the  spring 
of  1565,  he  was  unreconciled  to  Moray  ;  neither  by  "word 
or  write "  was  there  any  communication  between  them  ; 
if  they  accidentally  met,  they  apparently  did  nothing  more 
than  salute  each  other,  though  Moray  doubtless  continued 
his  attendance  on  the  "  sermonde."  But  Moray's  tolera- 
tion of  his  sister,  the  Queen,  which  had  wounded  so 
deeply  the  ecclesiastical  heart  of  Knox,  was  becoming  more 
equivocal,  and  the  long  estrangement  between  the  great 
twin  leaders  of  Scottish  Protestantism  was  nearing  its 
term — though  their  concord  was  not  to  be  accomplished 
without  the  severance  of  the  close  political  partnership 
between  Moray  and  Maitland.  This  latter  partnership 
had  possibly  been  already  somewhat  tried  by  the  Don 
Carlos  negotiations.  It  was  now  to  be  abruptly  broken  ; 
and  though,  outwardly,  for  a  short  time  it  was  renewed, 
they  must  henceforth  be  regarded  as  enemies. 

Two  days  after  Darnley  and  Randolph's  Sunday  dinner 
with  Moray,  Moray  again  dined  Randolph  ;  but  Darnley 


3i6 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


was  not  one  of  the  company  invited  to  meet  him,  his 
place  being  taken  by  the  Comptroller,  the  laird  of  Pit- 
arrow.  Moray's  aim  was  evidently  partly  to  "  grope " 
Randolph's  mind.  Pitarrow  began  this  portion  of  his 
work  for  him  in  protesting  against  Elizabeth  sending 
them  a  Papist  ;  and  Moray  still  pretended  to  believe  in, 
and  desire,  the  Leicester  match,  though  he  complained 
that  he  "  had  to  do  all  for  nothinge,  and  to  gette  nothing 
for  all  "  ;  but  his  most  characteristic  stroke  was  his  secret 
imploring  whisper  to  Randolph  :  "  Whatsomever  ye  do 
with  us,  contende  and  stryve  as  myche  as  you  cane  to 
bringe  us  from  our  papystrie."  ^ 

This  committed  Moray  to  nothing  ;  it  merely  showed 
how  zealous  he  was  for  "  true  religion  "  ;  but  what  his 
actual  aim  was,  was  another  matter.  Did  he,  as  all  Scotland 
was  beginning  to  surmise,  think  that  Elizabeth  had  sent 
Darnley  that  Mary  might  make  a  match  with  him  ;  and 
did  he  desire  that  Elizabeth  should  take  precautions  that 
with  Darnley  a  Protestant  "  settlement  " — to  use  a  modern 
term — should  be  effected.^  Or  had  he  so  sounded  Darnley 
as  to  discover  that  he  was  quite  an  unfit  consort  for  his 
sister — that  her  marriage  to  him  would  spell  disaster  to 
Moray  himself,  to  Mary,  and  to  religion  ;  and  did  he 
therefore  desire  that  Elizabeth  should  forbid  the  banns  "  ? 
Mary  was  now  showing  almost  contempt  for  the  general 
regulations  against  the  Mass  and  desiring  that  "  all  men 
live  as  they  list  "  ;  ^  but  Elizabeth,  also,  was  now  specially 
countenancing  practices  that  in  Scotland  were  deemed 
Popish  ;^  and  how  Moray  could  hope  that  Scotland  was 
to  be  delivered  from  the  dangers  of  Papistry  through 

*  Scottish  Papers^  ii.  133.       ^  Randolph,  March  20th,  in  Keith,  ii.  268. 
3  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  139. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE  317 


Elizabeth,  is  not  self-evident.  But  be  this  as  it  may, 
Moray,  by  the  beginning  of  April,  left  the  Scottish  court 
with  his  Queen's  disfavour,  because  he  had  been  so  plain 
of  late  with  her  "  idolatrye  "  ;  and  on  his  return  to  Stirling 
at  the  end  of  the  month  he  had  "  worse  countenance  than 
he  looked  for."  Indeed  it  was  now  perfectly  understood 
that  he  and  the  Queen  were  not  at  one  on  the  subject 
of  Darnley.^ 

But  Moray,  it  was  evident,  was  not  now  backed  up 
by  Maitland.  Maitland,  all  along,  must  have  pretty  well 
known  his  man — how  far  he  could  compel  him  to  go, 
and  when,  in  certain  circumstances,  the  split  between 
them  would  take  place.  He  knew,  of  course,  that  he 
was  more  a  religionist  than  a  unionist,  and,  withal,  probably 
more  intent  on  his  own  predominance  than  the  success 
of  his  sister's  rule.  Maitland,  we  must  believe,  was  more 
devoted  to  Mary's  political  than  her  religious  interests. 
She  had,  necessarily,  a  strong  hold  on  him  through  his 
love  for  Mary  Fleming,  who,  like  all  the  other  Marys — 
whatever  she  or  they  might  think  of  Darnley — was  devoted 
heart  and  soul  to  the  Queen  ;  but  his  main  motives  were 
political.  If  in  heart  opposed  to  the  Darnley  match,  he 
knew  also  that,  should  the  Queen  determine  to  marry 
Darnley,  it  would  be  vain  to  oppose  her  wishes  ;  but 
probably  he  may  have  deemed  the  match,  even  with  the 
drawback  of  Darnley's  personality,  the  best  solution  of 
the  succession  difficulty.  Instead  of  being  perplexed  and 
distressed,  as  Moray  now  was,  at  the  course  things  were 
taking,  he  seems  to  have  been  in  remarkably  good  spirits. 

Thus,  on  February  28th,  1564-5,  we  find  him  chaffing 
the  now  very  troubled  Cecil  about  his  too  great  immersion 
1  Scottish  PaperSy  ii.  144,  147. 


3i8  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


in  public  affairs,  and  advising  him  to  have,  like  him,  at 
least  one  "  meary  hour  of  the  four  and  twenty."  Cecil, 
he  said,  might  reply  that  those  "  that  [like  Maitland] 
be  in  love,  are  ever  set  upon  a  meary  pyn,"  but  he,  never- 
theless, thought  merryness  was  "  the  most  singular  remedy 
for  all  diseases."  ^  The  fact  was  that  Maitland  thought — 
and  quite  correctly — that  Elizabeth  and  Cecil  had  rather 
outwitted  themselves,  and  he  also  hoped — though  here  he 
was  partly  wrong — that  their  mistakes  might  be  turned 
to  Scotland's  advantage.  Elizabeth  had  no  idea,  when 
she  sent  Darnley  to  Scotland,  how  helpless  Mary  was 
without  him.  Maitland  knew  that  Elizabeth  had  sent 
him,  because  of  her  mortal  terror  of  the  phantom  of  a 
powerful  foreign  suitor  ;  and  he  was  now  not  without 
hope  of  driving  Elizabeth  into  a  corner. 

With  this  aim,  Maitland  therefore  set  out  for  London 
about  the  beginning  of  April  ;  but  nothing  was  immediately 
known  in  Scotland  as  to  his  mission.  Though  Randolph, 
at  Maitland's  request,  conveyed  him  as  far  as  Berwick, 
Maitland  breathed  not  a  word  to  him  as  to  his  real 
purpose  ;  and  Randolph  still  supposed  that  he  was,  as 
Moray  was  supposed  to  be,  intent  on  the  Leicester 
suit.  His  aim  was  however  something  quite  different  from 
this.  It  was  (i)  to  obtain  Spanish  approval  of  the  Darnley 
proposal,  and  (2)  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  upon  Elizabeth, 
if  not  to  make  a  settlement  in  regard  to  the  succession — 
which  Maitland  was  in  fact  prepared  to  leave  for  after 
consideration — at  least  to  raise  no  objection  to  the  marriage. 
Should  she  consent  to  let  the  marriage  take  place  without 
protest,  then  the  objectors  to  it  in  Scotland  would  be 
powerless  to  interfere  ;  and  should  she  make  conditions 
*  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  129. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE 


319 


in  regard  to  Protestantism,  then  Mary  might  be  compelled 
to  agree  to  them. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  approval  of  Spain  was  a 
guarantee  against  a  Scottish  rebellion  aided  by  Elizabeth. 
Either  in  serious  earnest,  or  to  avoid  wounding  Spanish 
susceptibilities,  Maitland  informed  de  Silva  that  Mary 
was  as  anxious  as  ever  to  marry  the  Prince  of  Spain, 
should  Philip  now  see  his  way  to  reopen  negotiations  ;  ^ 
and  finding  that,  while  there  was  no  hope  of  this,  de  Silva 
warmly  favoured  the  Darnley  match,  he  proceeded  to  press 
the  matter  with  Elizabeth. 

But  Elizabeth,  who  was  probably  a  puzzle  to  herself, 
puzzled  Maitland,  as  she  had  puzzled  every  one  else.  Be- 
sides sending  Darnley  to  Scotland,  this  superb  specimen 
of  feminine  duplicity  had  been  zealously  attempting  to 
lure  Mary's  possible  foreign  suitors  towards  herself,  and, 
with  her  almost  grotesque  advances  now  to  Don  Carlos, 
now  to  Charles  IX.,  now  to  the  Archduke  Charles,  was 
carrying  on  as  unconcealed  flirtations  as  ever  with  Leicester, 
whom  she  was  pressing  Mary  to  take  off  her  hands. 
While,  in  April,  playing  tennis  with  Norfolk,  in  presence 
of  the  Queen,  Leicester,  being  very  "  hot  and  sweating," 
took  the  handkerchief  out  of  the  Queen's  hand  to  wipe 
himself,  and  when  Norfolk  swore  to  lay  the  racket  on 
his  face  for  his  impudence,  the  Queen  showed  herself 
"  offended  sore  with  the  Duke."  ^  Shortly  afterwards,  while 
Leicester  was  suffering  from  a  fall  from  his  horse,  she 
also  went  to  visit  him,  in  much  the  same  way  as  Mary 
had  been  visiting  Darnley. 

Thus  Elizabeth's  foreign  overtures  were  not  meant  more 
seriously  than  any  other  of  her  devices  ;  but  Maitland's 
^  Spanish  State  Papers^  1558-67,  p.  422.  *  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  140. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


mission  having  completely  delivered  her  from  the  foreign- 
suitor  dread,  her  main  concern  now  was  to  prevent  the 
Darnley  marriage.  Still,  the  rapidity  with  which  matters 
had  come  to  a  crisis  had  plainly  taken  her  by  surprise  ; 
and  Maitland's  presence  in  London  caused  her  much 
anxiety,  and  even  perturbation.  Lady  Lennox  was  ordered 
to  keep  her  apartments  ;  and,  after  hurrying  Throckmorton 
away  to  Scotland  with  instructions,  dated  April  24th,  she 
recalled  him,  and,  on  Maitland's  suggestion,  Maitland 
and  Cecil  held  a  consultation  with  him,  after  which  it 
was  arranged  that  the  matter  should  go  before  the  Council.^ 
The  Council,  on  May  ist,  declared  the  Darnley 
marriage  to  be  "  unmeet,  unprofitable  and  perilous  to  the 
sincere  amity  between  the  Queens  and  their  realms,"  but 
offered  "  a  free  election  of  any  other  of  the  nobility  either 
in  this  wholl  realme  or  ile,  or  in  any  other  place,  being 
sortable  for  hir  state,  and  agreeable  to  both  the  realms."  ^ 
This  pretended  generous  offer  really  meant  nothing,  for  the 
Council  virtually  reserved  the  right  to  veto  any  other 
proposed  arrangement.  Still,  they  were  not  such  knaves 
or  fools  as  to  so  much  as  mention  the  notorious  name 
of  Leicester.  Not  so,  however,  the  unscrupulous  Elizabeth, 
though,  in  her  new  instructions  to  Throckmorton,  she  re- 
served mention  of  it  until  the  latter  part  of  the  document, 
which  latter  part  was  penned  wholly  by  Cecil,  ^  so  as  to 
preserve  its  privacy. 

The  first  part  of  the  mstructions,  representing  the  views 
of  the  Council,  was  to  the  effect  that  since  Maitland  was 
tied  "  to  his  message  fur  Darnley,  it  was  Elizabeth's  wish 
that  some  other  persons  should  be  sent  with  sufficient 

1  Spanish  State  Papers,  1558-67,  p  428, 

2  Scottish  Papers,  \\.  151,  '  Ibid.,  15 1-2. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE  321 


authority  to  conclude  "  for  some  more  meter  marriage." 
If  it  were  answered  that  the  offer  was  very  general," 
he  was  to  reply  that  a  short  conference  would  soon  make  it 

in  effect  spetiall."  And  then  followed  the  individual 
proposals  of  Elizabeth  :  if  he  found  the  Queen  inclined 
to  forbear  the  marriage  with  Darnley,  he  was  to  declare  that 
Elizabeth  could  promise  nothing  about  the  succession,  unless 
Mary  married  Elizabeth's  own  notorious  lover.  And  the 
sum  of  the  matter  was  (i)  that  with  Darnley  she  could 
not  grant  her  her  goodwill,  (2)  that  with  Leicester  she 
might  have  it,  and  (3)  that  she  would  assent  to  her 
marrying  with  any  other  than  Darnley  with  "  more  or  less 
mesure  "  of  goodwill,  but  only  with  Leicester  would  she 

inquire,  judge  or  publish  her  title."  She  was  '  still 
enigmatic  as  to  what  she  would  actually  do  in  regard  to  the 
title,  but  not  so  enigmatic  as  she  had  been,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  there  was  very  little  chance  indeed  that  Mary 
would  marry  Leicester.  Compared  with  that  of  Mary, 
Elizabeth's  policy  had  at  least  the  disadvantage  that  its 
dupHcity  could  not  be  hid. 

Mary's  policy,  throughout  the  whole  series  of  the 
trying  negotiations,  had  been  scrupulously  correct.  In 
Elizabeth's  attitude  towards  the  succession  she  had  a 
sufficient  excuse  for  seeking  an  influential  alliance  ;  and, 
after  all,  she  had  as  much  right  to  marry  any  of  the 
foreign  suitors  as  had  Elizabeth,  who,  had  she  thought 
of  marrying  any  of  them,  would  have  done  so  without 
leave  asked  of  Mary.  And  as  for  the  Darnley  proposal, 
Mary  seems  to  have  been  cherishing  the  hope  that 
Elizabeth  would  not  seriously  object  to  it.  Of  this  there 
is  even  pretty  clear  proof 

Mary  was  now  in  such  high  spirits  that,  on  Easter 

VOL.  I,  21 


322  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 

Monday,  she  and  others  of  her  ladies  dressed  themselves 
as  "  bourgeois  wives "  and  went  through  the  town  of 
Stirling  collecting  money  from  each  man  they  met  for  a 
banquet.  Apparently  the  banquet  was  for  her  attendants, 
and  the  Queen  herself  was  present  thereat,  to  the  great 
wonder,  says  Randolph,  of  man,  woman  and  child,^  though 
there  was  really  nothing  much  to  wonder  at.  Be  this 
as  it  may,  after  the  flying  post  arrived,  on  Saturday, 
with  the  news  that  Maitland  was  not  so  welcome  as  he 
looked  for,"  she  and  her  ladies,  according  to  Randolph, 
appeared  to  become  downcast  and  sad,  and  there  were  no 
further  signs  of  frolic.  Not  only  so,  but  Mary's  impul- 
siveness, held  in  check  so  long,  could  be  held  in  check  no 
longer. 

Instead  of  waiting  the  arrival  of  Maitland  and  of  the 
formal  message  of  Elizabeth  through  Throckmorton,  she 
resolved  to  take  time  by  the  forelock  and  gain  the  support 
of  as  many  of  the  nobility  as  possible  for  the  marriage, 
before  the  message  of  Elizabeth  arrived  in  Scotland. 
Knowing  also  that  the  person  in  Scotland  she  had  most 
to  dread  was  her  half-brother  Moray,  of  whom  she  was 
said  to  have  affirmed  that  he  would  "  set  the  crown  on 
his  own  head,''^  she,  on  his  arrival  in  Stirling,  suddenly 
placed  before  him  a  paper,  which  she  desired  him  to  sign, 
pledging  him  to  do  his  utmost  to  promote  the  marriage  ; 
and  on  his  desiring  time  to  consider,  and  affirming  the 
necessity  of  some  guarantee  in  regard  to  "  Christ's  trew 
religion,"  she  had  a  violent  quarrel  with  him. 

On  May  5th,  Mary  also  dispatched  John  Beaton, 
brother  of  the  Archbishop,  to  intercept  Maitland  on  his 
way  north,  and  with  a  letter  in  her  own  hand  to  him. 
^  Scottish  Papers^  ii.  148.  ^-  Ibid.^  ii.  153. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE  323 


asking  him  to  go  back  immediately  to  London  and  intimate 
to  Elizabeth  that  since  Mary  had  been  "  so  long  trayned 
with  fayre  speeche  and  in  thende  begyled  of  her  expectacion, 
she  did  mynd  with  thadvice  of  the  estates  of  her  own 
realme,  to  use  her  own  choyse  in  marriage,  and  to  take 
suche  a  one  as  in  her  opynyon  should  be  fyt  for  her." 
Throckmorton,  who  had  a  sight  of  the  letter,  wrote  to 
Cecil  that  he  "could  wyshe  that  the  Quenes  Majestie, 
you  and  my  Lord  of  Leycestre  had  seen  the  pennynge 
of  the  matter "  ...  "  you  would  have  said  that  ther 
had  nyther  wanted  eloquence,  dispyte,  anger,  love  nor 
passyon."  ^  She  further  instructed  Maitland  that  after 
giving  this  message  to  Elizabeth,  he  was  to  repair  to 
France  in  order  to  obtain  the  support  of  that  country 
for  the  marriage.  The  messenger  met  Maitland  between 
Newark  and  Grantham  ;  but  Maitland,  instead  of  obeying 
the  Queen's  instructions,  made  what  haste  he  could  in 
his  journey  north,  and  overtook  Throckmorton  at  Alnwick. 

On  learning  that,  in  his  absence,  Mary  had  been 
proceeding  so  impetuously  in  Scotland,  Maitland  was  quite 
driven  out  of  his  accustomed  self-command.  Throck- 
morton had  never  before  seen  the  cool  and  ready  diplomatist 
"in  so  great  perplexity  nor  passion,"  and  could  have 
little  believed  "  that  for  anye  matter  he  could  have  so 
been  moved."  On  account  of  his  deep  agitation,  Throck- 
morton inferred  that  he  was  "  as  lytle  affected  to  this 
marryage  as  any  other  "  ;  but  this  inference  hardly  hit  the 
mark.  Maitland  seemed  to  see  his  whole  diplomatic 
castle  almost  already  in  ruins,  and  the  "  wonderful 
tragedies  "  to  be  close  at  hand.  Knowing  his  sovereign 
as  he  did — her  total  disregard  of  consequences  when 
^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  159. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


the  fit  was  on  her — he  probably  expected  that  Scotland,  in 
a  day  or  two,  would  be  in  the  throes  of  revolution. 

Not  that  Maitland  was  necessarily  devoid  of  courage,  when 
mere  courage  alone  was  imperative.  Indeed  his  return  to 
Scotland,  in  the  face  of  Mary's  commands  to  the  contrary, 
was  an  act  of  high  moral  courage  :  it  might  mean  not 
only  the  permanent  loss  of  her  favour,  but  the  loss  also 
of  his  own  affianced  bride,  Mary  Fleming.  He  saw, 
however,  that  no  good  was  to  be  gained  by  mere  angry 
words  to  Elizabeth  ;  and  that  the  more  quietly  Mary  could 
accomplish  her  purpose,  the  better  it  would  be  both  for 
her  and  Scotland. 

The  objections  of  the  English  Council  were,  Maitland 
well  knew,  largely  founded  on  suspicion  as  to  Mary's  ultimate 
intentions  ;  that  suspicion  had  been  increased  by  the  report 
that  she  was  already  affianced  to  Darnley  ;  and  Mary's  best 
policy  was  to  seek  to  disarm  that  suspicion  as  much  as 
she  could.  Up  till  now,  Elizabeth  had  been  entirely  in 
the  wrong  ;  and  never  more  in  the  wrong  than  in  permitting 
Darnley  to  go  to  Scotland,  and  then  objecting  to  Mary's 
proposal  to  marry  him.  Maitland  wished,  if  she  were  now 
determined  at  all  hazards  to  oppose  the  marriage,  to  keep 
her  in  the  wrong  ;  and  he  therefore  deemed  it  incumbent 
to  be  meanwhile  as  conciliatory  towards  her  as  possible. 

If  Knox  had  all  along  been  striving  for  Mary's  over- 
throw, and  if  Moray  was  now  gradually  coming  into  line 
with  Knox,  the  aim  of  Maitland,  on  the  contrary,  was  to 
preserve  Mary  in  power.  That  could  best  be  done  by 
preventing  an  open  quarrel  between  the  two  queens  ;  and 
by  means  of  a  cautious  and  conciliatory  policy  there  might 
still  be  the  possibility  of  inducing  Elizabeth  to  accept  with 
a  good  grace  what  it  was  really  beyond  her  power  to  prevent. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE  325 


To  transmit  to  Elizabeth  Mary's  fiery  message,  would, 
Maitland  saw,  be  simply  to  play  into  Elizabeth's  hands. 
The  fact  was,  that  acute  and  artful  though  in  some  ways 
Mary  might  be,  she  was  a  mere  child  compared  with 
Elizabeth,  as  a  political  schemer.  She  was  at  once  too 
ardent  a  friend  and  too  bitter  a  foe,  to  act  on  her  own 
initiative  with  the  prudence  required  in  her  difficult  dilemma. 

The  situation  might  have  been  saved  had  Mary  been 
less  impetuous  ;  but  it  was  already  half  lost.  By  refusing 
to  transmit  her  message  to  Elizabeth,  Maitland  did  the 
best  that  could  now  be  done.  Necessarily  Maitland's  return 
must  have  given  Mary  deep  offence  ;  but  it  is  difficult  to 
say  how  far  this  was  permanent,  though  he  was  now  partly 
superseded  in  his  duties  by  the  Italian  Riccio,  who  had 
been  acting  as  Mary's  French  secretary  since  the  dismis- 
sion of  Raulet  in  December.  When  Maitland  reached 
Edinburgh  on  the  13th,  he  received  an  order  to  stay 
Throckmorton  from  proceeding  to  Stirling  for  two  or  three 
days,  on  the  ground  that  no  lodging  was  yet  prepared  for 
him.  This  message  he  gave  Throckmorton,  and,  leaving 
him  to  act  according  to  his  "  own  liking,"  hurried  on  to 
Stirling.  Apparently  he  reached  it  on  the  evening  of  May 
14th  ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  15th  Throckmorton,  who 
had  staid  the  night  at  Linlithgow,  descended  from  his 
horse  at  the  castle  gates.  Middlemore,  his  servant,  had 
been  sent  in  advance  to  ask  an  audience  for  him  ;  but  such 
precipitancy  was  by  no  means  relished  by  Mary.  Throck- 
morton therefore  found  the  gates  of  the  castle  shut 
against  him,  and  in  a  few  minutes  two  members  of  the 
Council  appeared  who,  in  reply  to  his  absurdly  pre- 
sumptuous demand  for  an  immediate  audience,  desired  him, 
in  the  Queen's  name,  to  retire  to  his  lodgings,  but  stated 


326  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


that  the  Queen  would  receive  him  after  he  had  rested 
himself. 

On  being  brought  to  the  castle  in  the  afternoon  by  Lords 
Erskine  and  Ruthven,  Throckmorton  found  Mary  sur- 
rounded by  others  of  her  Council — Chatelherault,  Argyll, 
Moray,  Morton,  and  Glencairn — to  whom  and  to  her  he  set 
forth  at  length  Elizabeth's  "  mislyking  and  disallowance  " 
of  her  hasty  proceeding  with  Lord  Darnley,  as  well  for  the 
matter  as  for  the  maner,  wherein  she  erred  by  unadvysed- 
ness  and  rashness."  ^  To  his  tirade  Mary  now  replied  with 
remarkable  restraint  and  prudence,  to  the  effect  that  she 
had  acted  with  "  less  preciseness "  than  she  would  other- 
wise have  done,  because  she  thought  that  no  marriage  could 
be  more  agreeable  to  all  parties — Elizabeth  and  England, 
as  well  as  her  subjects  and  realm  of  Scotland — than 
the  marriage  to  Darnley. 

Finally,  Throckmorton  learned  that  though  the 
marriage  was  practically  determined  on,  it  would  not  take 
place  for  three  months,  during  which  everything  would  be 
done  to  arrive  at  an  amicable  understanding  with  Elizabeth. 
For  Elizabeth,  Throckmorton  thought  that  one  of  two 
courses  was  open  :  either  to  make  use  of  her  power  to 
dissolve  the  arrangement,  which  Throckmorton  was  sanguine 
enough  to  suppose  still  possible,  or  to  agree  to  it  with  such 
conditions  as  would  be  to  Elizabeth's  "  honour,  safety  and 
felicity."  Throckmorton  seems  to  have  favoured  the 
latter  course  ;  and,  had  Elizabeth  been  persuadable,  an 
arrangement  might  have  been  arrived  at  that  would  have 
endangered  neither  Elizabeth  nor  Protestantism. 

There  was  thus  no  break  in  the  chain  of  causes  that, 
almost  from  the  first  moment  of  her  existence,  was  linking 

^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  162. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE  327 


Mary  to  disaster.  Knox,  Moray,  and  Elizabeth  were  now 
ready  to  do  their  part.  Hitherto  their  hostility  had  by  a 
variety  of  causes  been  held  in  suspense  :  the  Darnley 
marriage  was  the  solvent  that  brought  it  into  action. 
Unlucky  as  Mary  was  in  being  faced  by  this  strong 
combination  of  hostilities — hostilities  emphasised,  it  may 
be,  by  certain  imprudences  on  her  part,  but  almost  in- 
evitable in  the  nature  of  the  case — she  was  still  further 
unlucky  in  the  disposition  and  character  of  the  husband 
whom,  also,  an  almost  unavoidable  fate  had  assigned  her. 
Another  equally  fateful  element  in  the  case  was  the 
prominent  Catholicism  of  Darnley's  mother.  True,  Lennox 
himself  was  nominally  a  Protestant,  and  Darnley  could 
possibly  have  been  made  nominally  anything  ;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  had  the  family  been  Protestant,  Mary  might 
have  found  it  not  less  advisable — her  difficulties  being  such 
as  they  were — to  marry  him,  and  in  such  a  case  she  might 
have  been  saved  from  the  worst  of  her  woes.  But  as  it 
was,  the  Catholicism  of  the  family  and  the  folly  of  the  son 
fitted  in  exactly  with  the  hostile  elements  that  were  working 
together  for  Mary's  ruin. 

But  meantime  the  main  hostile  elements  at  work  against 
Mary  were  represented,  on  the  one  hand,  by  Moray  and 
Knox,  and  on  the  other  by  Elizabeth,  and  those  two 
elements  were  fused  into  a  seeming  unity  by  means  of 
Elizabeth's  deceptiveness.  Elizabeth  had  really  no  zeal, 
as  Moray  seems  to  have  thought  she  had,  for  Protestantism : 
and  she  had  no  real  intention — for  various  reasons,  but 
especially  because  she  dreaded  lest  Spain  might  pounce 
upon  her — of  aiding  Moray  against  his  sister  by  force.  Her 
seeming  incitements  to  Protestant  revolt  were,  like  most 
of   the  diplomatic  contrivances  of  her  wonderful  brain. 


32  8  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


deceptive  :  they  were  to  prove  too  much  for  the  secret 
and  reserved  Moray,  who,  for  once  in  his  life,  was  to 
succeed  in  making  an  entire  fool  of  himself.  His  religious 
zeal  and  his  personal  ambition  were  merely  utilised  by 
Elizabeth  for  her  own  personal  ends  ;  and  it  thus  came 
about  that  instead  of  Elizabeth  and  the  Scottish  Protestants 
uniting  their  efforts  to  render  the  inevitable  marriage  as 
innocuous  as  possible  to  Protestantism,  they  devoted  their 
whole  attention  first  to  the  vain  task  of  preventing  it, 
and  then  to  that  of  punishing  it. 

Meantime  Mary,  mainly,  we  must  suppose,  on  Maitland's 
advice,  was  doing  her  best,  at  the  eleventh  hour,  to  adopt 
a  prudent  policy  towards  Elizabeth.  Darnley,  immediately 
after  Throckmorton's  first  interview  on  the  15th,  was 
created,  as  had  been  arranged,  Lord  Ardmarnock  and  Earl 
of  Ross  ;  but  his  elevation  to  the  Dukedom  of  Albany 
was  postponed  until  Mary  heard  how  Elizabeth  allowed 
her  proceedings.  Though  also  she  had  taken  care  to 
secure  privately  the  assent  of  many  of  the  principal  nobles 
to  the  marriage,  no  formal  vote  on  the  subject  was  taken. 
Her  aim  now  was,  if  possible,  to  disarm  Elizabeth's  opposi- 
tion, by  seeking  to  persuade  her  that  her  intentions  were 
in  no  way  hostile  to  Elizabeth's  sovereignty.  All  now, 
therefore,  depended  on  the  manner  in  which  Elizabeth 
received  her  friendly  advances ;  but  had  there  been  any 
chance  of  winning  Elizabeth's  assent,  it  would  have  been 
lost  by  the  extraordinary  letters  now  being  penned  by 
Randolph. 

Randolph  had  been  a  double  dupe — the  dupe  of 
Elizabeth  as  well  as  of  Mary  ;  but  knowing  now  how  the 
wind  was  blowing  in  both  regions,  he  was  doing  his  best 
to  shift  his  sails  so  as  to  prevent  the  wreck  of  his  own 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE  329 


craft.  Yet  he  could  not  conceal  his  secret  conviction  that 
neither  Scotland  nor  Mary  had  been  dealt  with  quite  fairly 
by  Elizabeth.  To  Leicester  he  did  not  scruple  to  write 
that  the  Scots  had  good  cause  to  suspect  the  dealings  of 
Elizabeth  "  for  sendinge  of  hym  home,  whome  nowe  ye 
wolde  seeme  so  myche  to  mislyke  "  ;  ^  but  he  also  affirmed 
that  Darnley  was  quite  unwordye  to  be  matched  with 
such  one,"  as  he  had  known  and  seen  Mary  to  be.  This 
was,  doubtless,  true  enough  ;  but,  had  the  Darnley  match 
been  agreeable  to  Elizabeth,  Randolph  would  not  so  have 
changed  his  tune  ;  and  therefore  due  allowance  needs  to 
be  made  for  his  changed  point  of  view,  when  he  now  wrote 
to  Leicester  of  Darnley's  display  of  furious  passion  on 
learning  that  his  creation  of  dukedom  was  deferred,  or 
when  he  asserted  to  Cecil  that  Mary's  conduct  was  gaining 
for  her  the  utter  contempt  of  her  best  subjects  ;  while 
such  statements  as  that  her  majesty  is  laid  aside — her 
wits  not  what  they  were,  her  beauty  not  what  it  was,  her 
cheer  and  countenance  changed  into  I  wot  not  what," 
are  clearly  as  arrant  nonsense  as  the  reports  that  she  was 
bewitched,  the  parties  who  had  wrought  the  enchantment 
known,  and  the  bracillettes "  daily  worn  that  contain 
the     sacred  mysteries."^ 

Yet  all  this  showed  that  there  was  a  full  English  gale 
now  blowing  against  the  marriage  ;  and  when  at  last  the 
Protestant  John  Hay,  specially  chosen,  doubtless,  on  account 
of  his  irreproachable  Protestantism,  set  out,  on  June  14th, 
to  cast  oil  on  the  troubled  waters,  his  errand  was  merely 
hopeless.  While  expressing  astonishment  at  Elizabeth's 
opposition  to  a  match  which  she  had  done  so  much  to 
bring  about,  and  while  intimating  that  she  could  not  now 
^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  167.  »  Ibid.,  172. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


resile  from  her  engagement  to  marry  Darnley,  Mary 
proposed,  in  the  interests  of  friendship  between  the  two 
kingdoms,  to  refer  the  points  of  difference  between  her 
and  Elizabeth  to  a  commission.  The  Scottish  commissioners, 
named  for  Elizabeth's  approval,  were  Moray,  Morton, 
Glencairn,  Ruthven,  Maitland,  Bellenden,  and  Carnegie  of 
Kinnaird — a  sufficient  guarantee  that  everything  would  be 
done  that  was  possible,  to  guard  the  interests  both  of 
Protestantism  and  Elizabeth.  But  Elizabeth  had  made  up 
her  mind  finally  and  absolutely.  Though  she  knew  that 
Hay  was  on  his  way  with  proposals,  she,  without  awaiting 
his  arrival,  sent  letters  to  Lennox  and  Darnley  recalling 
them  to  England  ;  ^  and  on  the  24th,  the  very  day  that 
Hay  arrived.  Lady  Lennox  was  sent  to  the  Tower.  The 
reply  sent  by  Elizabeth  to  Mary  with  Hay  was  also  as 
curt  and  decisive  as  it  well  could  be  :  she  was  sorry  to 
find  so  small  satisfaction,  after  such  cause  offered  of 
offence  and  mislike,"  as  she  had  "  plainly  and  friendly 
given  him  to  understand."  ^  If  however  we  are  to  believe 
Hay,  Elizabeth,  though  sufficiently  plain  with  him,  was 
by  no  means  friendly.  His  story  to  de  Silva  was  that 
she  flew  into  a  rage,  directly  the  subject  was  introduced, 
and  treated  all  his  efforts  to  induce  her  to  consider  his 
statement,  in  such  a  fashion  that  he  could  do  nothing  but 
take  his  leave. ^ 

And  since  Elizabeth  was  so  arrogantly  and  implacably 
hostile,  it  is  small  wonder  that  Hay,  stern  and  decided 
Protestant  though  he  was,  was  highly  delighted  "  on 
learning  that  Philip's  reply  to  the    query   of  Maitland 

^  Randolph  to  Cecil,  July  3rd,  in  Keith,  ii.  297. 

'  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  178. 

^  Spanish  State  Papers,  1558-67,  pp.  441-2. 


Af:era  piditre  formerly  in  the  possession  of  Lord  Carteret. 

LADY  MARGARET  DOUGLAS,  COUNTESS  OF  LENNOX, 
.Mother  of  Lord  Darnley. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE  331 


transmitted  by  de  Silva,  was  of  an  entirely  favourable 
kind.  But  of  course  neither  Maitland  nor  Hay  intended, 
as  some  seem  to  suppose,  to  betray  their  country  to  Philip  ; 
what  they  needed  was  merely  a  guarantee  that  Philip 
would  not  permit  Elizabeth  to  interfere  against  the  match 
by  force  of  arms — and  this  was  all  that  Philip  promised, 
if  he  even  promised  so  much/  De  Silva,  in  fact,  advised 
that  Mary  should  act  as  prudently  as  possible,  and  that 
the  declaration  respecting  the  succession  should  not  be 
pressed." 

What  chiefly  commended  the  marriage  to  Philip  was 
that  it  put  an  end  to  the  possibility  of  a  French  marriage  ; 
but  his  cordial  attitude  was  as  balm  to  the  wounded  heart 
of  the  Scottish  commissioner  ;  for  EHzabeth,  by  her  angry 
rejection  of  all  compromise,  after  luring  Mary  into  the 
match,  was  treating  the  Scots  with  the  same  arrogant 
bad  faith  as  that  displayed  by  Henry  VIII.  ;  and  she  thus 
awoke  old  slumbering  animosities  which  were  stronger 
than  the  newly  created  influence  of  Protestantism. 

Meantime  Mary  had  also,  in  May,  sent  Castelnau 
to  win  the  support  of  Charles  IX.,  who  on  June  30th 
wrote  to  Elizabeth  that  he  approved  of  the  marriage  of 
the  Queen  of  Scots  and  hoped  she  also  did  so.^  The 
truth  was  that  Catherine  de  Medici  was  glad  enough  that 
Mary  should  be  maritally  fixed  in  such  a  manner  as  would 
not  interfere  with  her  interests  ;  and,  besides,  for  France 
to  show  a  lack  of  friendliness  to  the  match  would  be 
merely  to  play  into  the  hands  of  Spain.    Naturally,  how- 

'  We  do  not  possess  the  terms  of  Philip's  reply  handed  by  de  Silva 
to  Hay,  but  his  message  to  Beaton,  through  the  Duke  of  Alba,  was  in  sub- 
stance that,  so  far  as  Spanish  interests  were  concerned,  nothing  could  be 
more  satisfactory  (Granville,  Pa-piers  d'Etat^  iv.  323). 

*  For.  Ser.,  vii.  No.  1276. 


332  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


ever,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  was  sore  at  the  discomfiture 
of  his  own  plans  ;  and  although,  in  the  case  of  suitors 
of  supreme  royal  rank,  he  regarded  the  personal  qualities 
as  of  secondary  importance,  he  evidently  thought  that  his 
beautiful  and  brilliant  niece  was,  in  marrying  Darnley, 
throwing  herself  away.  Like  most  persons,  he  had  dis- 
cerned that  Darnley,  whom  he  termed  ung  gentil 
hutaudeau  "  ^ — apparently  a  slang  term  of  the  time,  and 
probably  implying  intellectual  and  moral  softness — was 
by  no  means  fitted  for  the  difficult  and  responsible  position, 
which  would  be  his  as  the  husband  of  the  Queen  of  Scots. 
Towards  the  end  of  May  he  sent  to  Mary  a  letter  with 
a  view  to  persuade  her  against  the  marriage  ;  but  finding 
her  firmly  bent  on  it,  at  all  hazards,  he  undertook  to  write 
to  the  Pope  for  a  dispensation.^ 

So  much  for  France  and  the  Catholics.  Li  Scotland 
matters  were  proceeding  as  favourably  as  could  be  expected. 
If  the  hatred  towards  Darnley,  even  amongst  the  Protestants, 
was  not  so  mervilous  greate  "  as  Randolph  represented, 
there  was  already  evidence  that  the  more  precise  nobles, 
led  by  Moray,  intended  to  proceed  to  such  extremities 
as  they  could  against  him  ;  while  even  amongst  those  devoted 
to  him  by  "  bond  of  blood,"  the  enthusiasm  for  him  was 
in  nowise  excessive.  But  Elizabeth's  ridiculous  procedure 
had  more  than  reconciled  many  to  the  marriage  who  had 
no  great  liking  for  it  ;  and  the  bulk  of  the  nation  seemed 
to  be  with  the  Queen. 

To  commissioners  from  the  Kirk  sent  to  her,  on 
June  26th,  with  certain  articles,  ^  the  first  of  which  proposed 

1  Teulet,  ii.  199. 

2  See  especially  Papal  Negotiations,  pp.  200-1. 

3  Knox,  ii.  484-5. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE 


that  the  Mass  should  be  abolished  throughout  the  realm, 
"  not  only  in  the  subjects'  but  also  in  the  Queen's  own 
person,"  no  definite  answer  was  meanwhile  given  ;  but  the 
Council,  on  July  1 2th,  issued  a  proclamation  in  which  she 
disavowed  all  intentions  of  molesting  any  of  her  subjects  in 
"  the  quiet  using  of  their  religion."  ^  The  final  answer  to 
the  articles,  dated  July  29th,  if  not  issued  until  a  later  date, 
was  to  the  effect  that  she  could  not,  in  conscience,  leave  the 
religion  wherein  she  had  been  nourished  and  brought  up  "  ; 
that  to  do  so  would  lose  her  the  friendship  of  France  and 
"  other  great  Princes  her  friends  and  confederates  "  ;  that  as 
she  had  not  pressed,  nor  intended  to  press,  the  consciences 
of  any,  so  she  hoped  that  none  would  seek  to  press  her 
conscience  ;  and  that  the  formal  establishment  of  religion 
would  be  deferred  until  the  three  estates  of  Parliament  were 
agreed.  ^ 

A  good  deal  of  discussion  has  been  devoted  to  the 
question  as  to  whether  Moray  contemplated  a  plot  to  kidnap 
Darnley  as  the  Queen  and  he  were  passing  through  Fife  on 
their  way  south  from  Perth  ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt 
(i)  that  Mary  received  news  to  this  effect,  (2)  that  Randolph 
had  been  sounded  about  a  project  to  capture  Lennox  and 
Darnley  and  send  them  to  Berwick,  and  (3)  that  both 
Argyll  and  Moray  were  within  striking  distance.  ^  Further, 
a  rumour  was  spread  by  them  that  Lennox  and  Darnley  had 
conspired  to  slay  them  in  a  back-gallery  of  Mary's  lodgings 
at  Perth.  Darnley  may  have  been  guilty  of  some  wild  boasts 
of  the  kind  ;  but  they  were  evidently  utilising  the  rumour  for 
ends  of  their  own,  and  probably  would  have  made  it  their 
excuse  for  the  kidnapping  adventure.    In  any  case,  Mary, 

»  Reg.  P.  C,  i.  338.  '  Knox,  ii.  488-9. 

'  See  Randolph's  letters  in  Keith,  ii.  339.  sq. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


desirous  to  put  an  end  to  the  injurious  back-gallery  story, 
did  her  utmost  to  get  at  its  source  ;  and  Lennox  and 
Darnley  not  only  denied  its  truth,  but  sent  their  goodwill 
to  Moray.  Yet  all  attempts  to  obtain  any  light  on  the 
subject  from  Moray  proved  fruitless  :  he  would  neither 
explain  nor  retract,  ^  the  fact  being  that  he  did  not  desire 
a  reconciliation  with  the  Queen,  and  v/as  now  bent  on  doing 
his  utmost  against  her. 

By  whatever  noble  or  conscientious  motives  Moray 
was  actuated  in  the  step  he  was  now  taking,  his  resolution 
was  a  false  move.  If  a  regard  to  his  own  safety  left  him 
no  other  choice,  that  safety  had  been  endangered  by  his 
opposition  to  the  marriage  ;  whereas,  had  he  resolved  to 
make  the  best  he  could  of  the  inevitable,  he  would  have 
been  in  a  strong  position  for  guarding  the  interests  of 
Protestantism.  But  Knox  was  at  his  one  elbow  and 
Elizabeth  at  the  other,  and  the  two  together  were,  combined 
with  his  own  particular  ambitions,  too  much  for  his 
characteristic  caution.  His  chief  blunder  of  course  was  in 
expecting  help  from  Elizabeth.  Apparently  he  did  not 
realise  how  completely  Elizabeth  had  been  checkmated  by 
the  understanding  between  Mary  and  Spain  ;  but  his 
long  uneasiness  under  his  sister's  rule  has  also  to  be 
considered. 

On  July  1 8th,  therefore,  Moray  and  other  recalcitrant 
lords  had  a  private  meeting  at  Stirling,  and  in  their  name 
the  drivelling  Chatelherault  (again  trotted  out  by  Moray 
for  his  own  purposes),  Argyll  (also,  like  Chatelherault,  a 
hereditary  enemy  of  Lennox),  and  Moray  himself  (the  now 
strenuous,  if  tardy,  champion  of  Protestantism)  sent  a  joint 
request  to  Elizabeth  virtually  to  aid  them  against  their 

1  Reg,  P.  C,  i.  340-7. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE 


sovereign,  in  the  same  manner  as,  in  a  like  extremity,  she 
had  aided  them  against  Mary  of  Guise.  They  did  so,  they 
said,  because  they  understood  from  Throckmorton  and 
Randolph  the  guid  and  gratius  mynd  your  Majestie  with 
continuance  beareth  to  the  meyntenance  of  the  gospell  "  ;  ^ 
and  it  is  probable  that  before  they  sent  the  letter,  they 
had  Elizabeth's  assurance  of  the  loth  that,  if  by  doing 
their  duty  they  were  forced  to  inconvenience,  they  should 
not  find  lack"  in  her  to  regard  them  in  their  trouble."^ 
It  is  further  evident  that,  had  they  been  able,  they 
would  have  sought  to  hinder  the  marriage  by  force  of 
arms  ;  and  their  menacing  attitude  caused  it  to  be  cele- 
brated sooner  than  was  orignally  contemplated.  Randolph 
even  reported  on  the  i6th  that  on  the  9th  Mary  had 
been  secretly  married  in  her  own  palace,  and  had  gone 
that  same  night  to  bed  at  Seton.  On  the  same  day  he 
communicated  a  budget  of  news  and  gossip  to  Cecil, 
including  the  in  nowise  remarkable  story,  that  two  days 
afterwards  Mary  and  Darnley  had  come  to  Edinburgh 
Castle  to  dine,  and  "  had  walked  up  and  down  the  towne 
dysguysed  [whatever  that  may  mean]  untyl  supper  tyme  " — 
all  this  on  a  fine  summer  afternoon  and  evening.  According 
to  the  same  Randolph,  "  thys  manner  of  passage  to  and 
fro  gave  agayne  occasion  to  maynie  men  to  muse  what 
might  be  her  meaninge."  ^  But  they  were  not  kept  long 
in  suspense.  Mary  had  not  the  least  thought  of  making 
a  clandestine  marriage.  She  held  the  wrath  both  of  her 
brother  and  Elizabeth  in  utter  despite  ;  and  she  was  neither 
ashamed,  nor  in  dread,  of  what  she  was  about  to  do. 

^  Keith,  ii.  329. 

'  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  181 ;  Randolph's  letters  in  Keith,  ii.  329-35, 
'  Stevenson's  Selections,  p  119. 


336  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


On  learning  what  Moray  had  been  about  at  Stirling, 
Mary,  on  July  22nd,  issued  a  proclamation  in  which,  while 
denying  the  false  report  that  she  intended  to  "  stay  or 
molest  any  of  them  in  the  using  of  their  religion,"  she 
summoned  all  the  lieges  to  appear  at  Edinburgh  in  all  haste 
"  boden  in  fear  of  war/'  and  with  fifteen  days'  provisions ;  ^ 
and  that. some  day  Darnley  was  created  Duke  of  Albany, 
and  the  banns  of  marriage  proclaimed  in  St.  Giles  and  the 
Chapel-Royal.  The  marriage  took  place  in  the  Chapel- 
Royal  of  Holyrood  Palace  on  July  29  th,-  the  officiating 
clergyman  being  John  Sinclair,  Dean  of  Restalrig. 

It  has  been  usually  supposed  that  Chisholm,  who  arrived 
from  Rome  on  July  22nd,  brought  with  him  the  dispensation 
needed  in  the  case  of  the  marriage  of  cousins  ;  but  Father 
Pollen,  who  has  given  great  attention  to  the  subject,  has 
apparently  proved  that  the  dispensation  could  not  have 
arrived  until  some  months  after  the  marriage.^  If  so,  the 
fact  is  but  additional  evidence  of  Mary's  disregard  of 
Catholic  authority,  when  it  interfered  with  her  own  interests. 
In  this  particular  case  she  had  clearly  made  up  her  mind 
to  defy  the  Pope,  should  it  be  necessary  to  do  so. 

Mary  was  probably  a  little  doubtful  of  the  bona  fides  of 
her  uncle  in  the  matter  of  the  dispensation  ;  and  she  knew 
that  he  and  the  Pope  between  them  had  deprived  her  of 
Don  Carlos.  Ample  time  had  been  given  for  the  dispensa- 
tion to  arrive  ;  and  since  it  was  needful  that  the  marriage 
should  take  place  before  effective  means  could  be  taken 
against  Moray  and  his  confederates,  she  boldly — and  it 

^  Keith,  ii.  339-41. 

2  Randolph  says  the  29th,  and  various  considerations  seem  to  show  that 
he  was  correct,  though  the  Diurnal  of  Occurrcnts  (p.  80)  and  the  Liber 
Responsium  {Exchequer  Rolls,  xv.  475)  give  the  28th, 

'  Papal  Negotiations,  pp.  190-231, 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE 


may  be  disdainfully — resolved  to  dispense  with  the 
customary  formality,  and  took  Darnley  for  better  or  worse 
without  the  leave  of  Rome.  It  was  really  as  regardless 
a  step  as  that  of  Henry  VIII.  ;  but  on  this  occasion  it 
was  condoned  ;  and  it  was  reserved  for  Father  Pollen, 
some  three  centuries  and  a  half  after  the  event,  to  reveal 
to  the  world  this  striking  act  of  royal  irregularity  in  the 
case  of  a  sacrament  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church. 

Though  the  author  of  the  Diurnal  affirms  that  Mary 
was  married  with  "  great  magnificence,"  the  magnificence 
was  but  paltry  compared  with  the  gorgeous  splendour 
and  glittering  pomp  of  the  ceremony  in  Notre  Dame.  The 
only  detailed  account  of  the  marriage  is  from  the  pen  of 
Randolph,  who  of  course  could  not  be  present. 

The  manner  of  the  marriage,"  says  Randolph,  was  in 
thys  sorte.  Upon  Sondaye  in  the  morninge,  betwene  five 
and  six,  she  was  conveide  by  divers  of  her  nobles  to  the 
chappell.  She  had  upon  her  backe  the  greate  mourninge 
gowne  of  blacke,  with  the  great  wyde  mourninge  hoode,  not 
unlyke  unto  that  which  she  wore  the  dolefull  day  of  the 
buriall  of  her  husbande.  She  was  ledde  unto  the  chappell 
by  the  Earles  Lenox  and  Athol,  and  there  she  was  lefte 
untyll  her  housband  came,  who  also  was  conveide  by  the 
same  Lords.  The  ministers,  two  priests,  did  there  receive 
them.  The  bans  are  asked  the  thyrde  tyme,  and  an  instru- 
mente  taken  by  a  notarie  that  no  man  sayde  agaynst  them, 
or  alledged  anye  cause  why  the  marriage  might  not 
procede. 

"The  words  were  spoken,  the  rings,  which  were  three 
the  middle  a  riche  diamonde,  were  put  upon  her  fingers, 
theie  kneel  together,  and  manie  prayers  saide  over  them. 
She  carrieth  owte  the  *  *  *    and  he  taketh  a  kysse  and 

VOL.   I.  22 


338  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


leaveth  her  there,  and  wente  to  her  chamber,  whither  in 
a  space  she  followeth,  and  there  being  required,  accordinge 
to  the  solemnitie  to  cast  off  her  care,  and  lay  asyde  those 
sorrowful!  garments,  and  give  herself  to  a  pleasant  lyfe. 
After  some  prettie  refusall,  more  I  believe  for  manner  sake 
than  grief  of  harte,  she  suffereth  them  that  stoode  by, 
everie  man  that  coulde  approche,  to  take  owte  a  pyn, 
and  so  being  commytted  into  her  ladies,  changed  her 
garments,  but  wente  not  to  bedde,  to  signifie  unto  the 
worlde,  that  it  was  no  luste  moved  them  to  marrie,  but 
onlye  the  necessitie  of  her  countrie,  not,  if  she  wyll,  to 
leave  it  destitute  of  an  heire.  Suspicious  men,  or  such 
as  are  given  of  all  thyngs  to  make  the  worste,  wolde  that 
it  sholde  be  believed  that  theie  knewe  eache  other  before 
that  theie  came  there.  I  wolde  not  your  Lordship  shold 
so  believe  ;  the  lykelyhoods  are  so  greatly  to  the  contraire, 
that  if  it  were  possible  to  se  such  an  act  done,  I  wolde 
not  beleve  it. 

After  the  marriage,  followethe  cheere  and  dancinge. 
To  their  dynner  theie  were  conveide  by  the  whole  nobles. 
The  trumpets  sounde,  a  larges  cried,  and  monie  thrown 
abowte  the  house  in  greate  abundance  to  suche  as  were 
happie  to  gete  anye  parte.  Theie  dyne  bothe  at  one  table 
upon  the  upper  hande.  There  serve  her  these  Earles — 
Atholl,  shower,  Morton,  carver,  Crauford,  cupbearer. 
These  serve  him  in  lyke  offices — Earls  Eglinton,  Cassels 
and  Glencarne.  After  dyner  theie  dance  awhyle,  and  retire 
themselves  tyll  the  hower  of  supper,  and  as  theie  dyne  so 
do  theie  suppe.  Some  dancing  ther  was  and  so  theie  go 
to  bedd."  ' 

On  the  night  before  the  marriage,  "  very  near  nine 
*  Wright's  Elizabeth,  i,  202-3. 


After  a  print  by  R.  ElstraK^ . 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS  AND  LORD  DARNLEY. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE 


o'clock,"  proclamation  was  made  in  Mary's  name  that  her 
will  was  that  Darnley  should  "  be  namit  and  stylit  King 
of  this  our  Kingdom  and  that  all  our  letteris  to  be  direct 
eftir  our  said  marriage  sua  to  be  compleitit,  be  in  the 
names  of  the  said  illuster  Prince,  our  future  husband  and 
us,  as  King  and  Quene  of  Scotland  conjunctlie." 

The  honeymoon  of  the  couple  so  hastily  united  was 
passed  amidst  the  stir,  excitement,  and  bustle  created  by 
the  possibility  of  having  to  face  a  formidable  revolt.  The 
musters  had  begun  to  arrive  in  Edinburgh  some  time  before 
the  marriage  ;  and  it  was  now  resolved  to  warn  Moray 
to  appear  before  the  Council  within  six  days,  or  be 
pronounced  rebel  and  pursued  under  the  law."  Letters 
were  also  directed  to  Chatelherault  and  Argyll,  ordering 
them,  on  their  allegiance,  not  to  assist  him  or  his  party  ; 
and  various  persons  suspected  to  favour  him  were  ordered 
into  ward  in  the  north  of  Scotland.  Moray  meanwhile 
retired  to  Argyll  to  watch  events  ;  and,  as  Thomworth 
and  Randolph  wrote  to  Leicester,  he  and  his  sup- 
porters were  taking  courage,  "  in  hope  that  her  Majesty  " 
[Elizabeth],  "having  so  many  just  occasions  of  offence, 
will  so  proceed  that  she  "  [Mary]  "  may  taste  what  it  is 
to  have  provoked  her  displeasure."  ^ 

Moray's  main  supporters — besides  the  Duke  and  Argyll 
— were  the  Earls  of  Glencairn  and  Rothes,  Lords  Boyd 
and  Ochiltree,  and  Kirkcaldy  of  Grange.  They  formed 
the  nucleus  of  a  powerful  opposition,  had  the  burghs 
and  the  "  rascal  multitude "  been  in  the  same  mood  as 
during  the  campaigns  against  the  "  monuments  of  idolatry  "  ; 
but  so  little  general  sympathy  was  there  with  the  up- 
rising, that  Elizabeth's  agents  were  convinced  that  unless 
^  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  190, 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


"  these  noble  men  have  some  support  of  her  Majesty 
they  in  end  will  be  overthrown." 

The  kindling  influence  of  the  Knoxian  enthusiasm  had 
not  aflFected  the  great  bulk  of  the  nobility  ;  now  nominally 
Protestants,  they  were  so  chiefly  from  considerations  of  self- 
interest  ;  and  while  Darnley  could  count  on  the  support 
of  those  related  to  him  by  "  bond  of  blood,"  others,  who 
were  no  friends  of  Lennox  and  had  little  respect  or  love 
for  Darnley,  were  not  disposed  to  see  the  Queen,  who 
was  generally  popular,  worsted  by  the  jealousy  of  the 
Duke  and  Argyll,  the  ofl^snded  pride  or  Protestant  zeal 
of  Moray,  and  the  arrogance  of  Elizabeth. 

Those  whom  Randolph,  as  early  as  June  3rd,  recognised 
as  of  the  Marian  party,  were  Atholl,  Caithness,  Erroll, 
Montrose,  Fleming,  Cassilis,  Home,  Lindsay,  Ruthven, 
and  Lord  Robert.  Being  a  Stewart  by  his  father's  side, 
and  a  Douglas  by  his  mother's,  Darnley  could  claim  the 
"  bond  of  blood  "  devotion  of  two  of  the  most  powerful 
families  in  Scotland.  The  bulk  of  the  Stewarts,  including 
Atholl,  were  with  him,  and  not  with  the  "  bastard."  He 
also  claimed  kin  with  Lindsay  and  Ruthven  ;  and  Morton 
— son  of  the  notable  Sir  George  Douglas  of  the  time  of 
Henry  VIII. — who,  during  the  minority  of  Angus,  was 
nominal  head  of  the  Douglases,  also  cast  in  his  lot  with 
his  kinsman,  so  soon  as  Lady  Lennox  sent  him  an 
instrument  resigning  her  claims  to  the  earldom  of  Angus.^ 

It  was  also  immediately  determined  that  Lord  Gordon, 
who  had  been  in  prison  since  Corrichie,  should  be  set  free, 
and  that  Bothwell  should  be  recalled  from  France.  If 
Lord  Gordon — to  be  better  known  as  Huntly — never 
forgave  Mary  for  her  stern  measures  against  his  house, 
*  Hist.  MSS.  3rd.  Report,  p.  394. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE 


his  grudge  against  her  was  as  nothing  to  his  implac- 
able hate  of  Moray,  whom  the  Clan  Gordon,  had  he  fallen 
into  their  hands,  would  have  torn  in  pieces  with  un- 
speakable joy. 

Bothwell  was  also  in  like  case  with  Lord  Gordon. 
As  Moray  himself  said,  Scotland  could  not  hold  both 
Moray  and  Bothwell.  Moray,  cautious  and  calculating 
though  he  was,  lacked  nothing  in  bodily  courage  ;  but  he 
felt  uneasy  in  near  proximity  to  this  "  rash  and  glorious 
young  man,"  who  combined  in  himself  the  daring  law- 
lessness of  the  Border  chief  with  the  gay  recklessness- 
of  the  French  bravado.  Moray  had  done  his  utmost,  in 
Randolph's  phrase,  to  "  keep  him  short."  It  was  also  to 
him  that  Bothwell — involved  or  not  in  the  insane  Arran 
project — owed  his  imprisonment.  Like  Arran,  he  had  been 
imprisoned  solely  in  Moray's  interests.  Doubtless  it  was 
because  he  had  learned  that  Moray  was  losing  favour 
with  the  Queen,  that  he  had  ventured  in  the  spring  to 
return  to  Scotland  ;  but  as  yet  Moray's  power  was  un- 
broken, and  Bothwell  had  to  go  again  into  exile.  He  could 
hardly  have  liked  the  Darnley  marriage  ;  but  Mary  and 
Darnley  were  now  man  and  wife,  and  they  were  happily 
at  feud  with  the  chief  author  of  his  misfortunes.  True, 
the  fact  that  Mary  had  permitted  her  brother  to  treat  him, 
the  old  champion  of  her  mother,  as  he  did,  had  clearly 
deeply  wounded  him.  While  in  France,  he  had  reviled 
her  in  his  own  choice  vocabulary,  asserting  that  she  and 
Elizabeth  between  them  would  not  make  one  honest 
woman,  and  gloating  with  ribald  spite  over  certain  absurd 
surmises  as  to  Mary's  relations  with  her  uncle  of 
Lorraine.  But  if  hitherto  he  had  no  good  reason  to  be 
well  affected  towards  the  Queen,  he  well  enough  knew 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


that  she  was  in  no  way  ill-disposed  to  him  ;  and  what 
reasons  of  complaint  he  had  against  her  were  forgotten  in 
his  ardour  to  have  a  share  in  effecting  his  great  enemy's 
downfall, 

Morton,  Lindsay,  Ruthven,  Huntly,  Bothwell — what 
omened  names  of  evil  to  Mary's  future,  had  she  been  able 
to  read  its  riddle  !  Morton  was  to  be,  next  to  Moray — and 
was  to  be  after  Moray  was  dead  and  gone — her  greatest 
enemy."  The  stern  and  pale  face  of  Ruthven  was,  in  after 
years,  to  rise  vividly  to  her  memory  whenever  that  memory 
in  any  way  dallied  with  the  painful  reminiscences  of  dismal 
Holyrood.  With  scenes  of  what  impotent  misery  was  she 
to  associate  the  name  of  the  rude  and  implacable  Lindsay  ! 
And  what  tragic  memories  were  to  gather  round  those  of 
Huntly  and  of  Bothwell  !  But  of  such  dread  possibilities 
she  did  not  then  dream  ;  and  those  five  notable  nobles,  with 
others  of  less  prominent  and  sinister  importance,  were  now 
banded  together  in  unity  to  champion  the  cause  of  the  lady- 
faced  lad,  whose  pride  and  inane  folly  were  to  be  a  curse 
to  her  and  to  them.  Each  of  those  five  nobles  was  to  con- 
tribute his  own  special  quota  to  the  sum  of  Mary's  woes  ; 
but  their  relations  to  her  destiny  might  have  been  innocuous, 
but  for  the  peculiar  qualities  of  the  contemptible  youth, 
whose  fortunes  certain,  apparently  unlawful,  ceremonies  of 
the  Church  had  now  bound  up  with  hers. 

The  irony  of  the  situation  was  that  the  fates,  bent — 
even  as  Maitland  was  bent — on  the  union  of  the  Kingdoms, 
had  to  choose  for  their  instrument  such  a  consort  as  was 
Darnley  for  the  Scottish  Queen  ;  but  in  politics  the  mean 
and  noble  things  of  this  world  have  ever  been  strangely 
and  intimately  combined  ;  and  thus  the  muster  of  the 
Scottish  lords  in  defence  of  a  marriage,  in  its  essence  as  a 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE 


personal  bond,  so  foolish  and  untoward,  was  destined  to 
rank  as  an  epoch-making  event  in  Scottish  and  British 
history. 

On  July  30th  Elizabeth  thought  good  to  send 
Thomworth  as  a  special  ambassador  to  explain  to  Mary 
how  in  her  former  proposals — respecting  Leicester,  for- 
sooth ! — she  had  had  Mary's  best  interests  at  heart,  to 
express  unfeigned  astonishment  that  Mary  was  now  treating 
her  so  strangely,  and  to  warn  her  against  any  attempt  "  to 
suppress  and  extirpate  out  of  her  realme  the  manner  of  the 
religion  already  receaved  by  her  subjectes."  After  hearing 
what  Mary  had  to  say  in  answer  to  this  tissue  of  diplomatic 
nonsense,  he  was  to  seek  to  induce  her  to  receive  Moray 
and  his  party  into  her  favour,  and  procure  ''continuance  of 
peace  and  amity,  that  she  [Mary]  be  not  provoked  to  renew 
the  old  league  with  France."  Yet  with  characteristic  in- 
consistency the  ambassador  was  instructed  officially  to  ignore 
the  marriage,  and  it  required  by  Mary  to  speak  to  Darnley 
"  as  to  her  husband,"  to  refuse  to  do  so.  ^ 

What  had  moved  Elizabeth  to  adopt  this  attitude  of 
mingled  menace  and  cajolery  and  mingled  friendliness  and 
insult  was  a  significant  reference  in  a  letter  of  Mary  to  "  the 
princes  who  were  her  allies."  Elizabeth  apparently  dreaded 
the  renewal  of  the  old  league  with  France,  and  she  had  also 
uneasy  presentiments  as  regards  Spain.  She  was  also 
beginning  to  discover  that  the  Protestant  opposition  to  the 
marriage  was  in  nowise  so  strong  as  she  had  hoped  ;  and 
we  must  suppose  that  what  she  mainly  desired — though  the 
circuitous  fashion  of  her  diplomacy  was  all  against  success — 
was  to  patch  up  a  reconciliation  between  Mary  and  her  rebels, 
so  that  there  might  again  be  in  Scotland  a  strong  and  united 
'  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  187. 


344  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


Protestant  party  to  hold  Mary's  foreign  practices  in  check. 
But  she  had  discovered,  too  late,  her  blunder  in  not  con- 
senting to  negotiations.  Thomworth  found  that  there  was 
now  no  hope  of  such  a  reconciliation  as  she  appeared  to  desire 
— that  is,  unless  Elizabeth  entirely  changed  her  tune  both  to 
the  rebels  and  to  Mary,  and  ceased  either  to  seek  to  en- 
courage them  or  to  bully  her.  Mary  remained  "  in  mind 
to  persue  them  to  the  uttermost,"  while  they,  quite  without 
any  suspicion  of  Elizabeth's  total  lack  of  good  faith,  were 
so  pressing  Randolph  "  upon  her  Majestie's  [Elizabeth's] 
promes  for  their  relief,"  that  he  could  do  no  less  than  forward 
them  the  money  left  for  this  purpose  at  Berwick.^ 

To  Thomworth,  Mary  answered  (i)  that  she  had 
offered  to  delay  the  marriage  until  the  conditions  had 
been  considered  by  commissioners,  but  after  Elizabeth 
declined  to  agree  to  a  commission  she  had  no  further  reason 
for  delay,  since  the  marriage  had  the  allowance  of  "  the 
principal  and  greatest  princes  of  Christendom,"  (2)  that 
she  could  not  but  marvel  at  Elizabeth's  objection  to  the 
marriage,  since  both  Darnley  and  his  father  had  been 
specially  recommended  to  her  goodwill,  (3)  that  by  the 
marriage  she  meant  nothing  but  amity,  and  to  be  dealt 
with  as  her  good  sister's  "  next  cousin,"  (4)  that  as  she 
had  no  desire,  unless  compelled,  to  enter  in  practices " 
against  Elizabeth,  she  expected  that  Elizabeth  would  in 
"  no  wise  meddle  with  any  matters  within  the  realm  of 
Scotland,"  (5)  that  she  intended  to  make  no  innovation 
of  religion,  ^'  but  that  most  convenient  for  the  state  of 
herself  and  realm,  by  the  advice  of  her  good  subjects," 
and  (6)  that  as  regards  Moray,  she  desired  Elizabeth  to 
meddle  no  further  in  these  private  matters  concerning  him 
^  Scottish  Papers^  ii.  190, 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE 


or  any  other  Scottish  subject  than  she  was  disposed  to 
meddle  with  any  caises  concerning  the  subjects  of 
England." 

Further,  in  order  to  show  the  sincerity  of  their  good- 
will to  Elizabeth,  Mary  and  Darnley  offered  (i)  that  during 
Elizabeth's  life  and  of  that  of  the  lawful  issue  of  her  body, 
they  would  do  nothing  to  the  prejudice  of  the  title  of 
either,  directly  or  indirectly,  (2)  that  they  would  not  meddle 
with  her  subjects  nor  reset  offenders,  (3)  that  they  would 
not  enter  into  any  league  with  a  foreign  prince  against 
her,  (4)  that  Mary  would  enter  into  one  with  England, 
and  (5)  that  if  called  to  the  succession,  she  would  make 
no  innovation  of  the  religion,  laws,  or  liberties  of  England. 

These  offers  were  made  on  condition  (i)  that  Elizabeth 
by  Act  of  Parliament  should  establish  the  succession  of  the 
crown,  failing  herself  and  the  lawful  issue  of  her  body, 
(a)  in  Mary  and  the  lawful  issue  of  her  body,  and  (^) 
failing  this  in  Lady  Margaret  and  her  lawful  issue  as  the 
persons  by  the  lawe  of  God  and  nateur  nexte  in  heritable 
to  the  crowne  of  England  and  appurtenances  thereof,"  (2) 
that  she  would  not  meddle  with  any  practice  in  Scotland, 
or  reset  offenders  against  Mary  and  Darnley,  and  (3)  that 
she  would  not  league  with  any  foreign  prince  against 
them.^ 

Unless  we  admit  that  no  understanding  between  Mary 
and  Elizabeth  was  possible,  we  must  recognise  the  reason- 
ableness of  these  proposals  ;  but  what  Elizabeth  desired 
was  to  deprive  Mary  of  everything  and  grant  her  nothing. 
As  to  the  plea  of  danger  to  Elizabeth  in  establishing  the 
succession,  it  may  be  answered  (i)  that  her  own  Council 
over  and  over  again  urged  that  she  should  establish  it, 
1  Scottish  Papers^  ii.  192-3. 


346  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


(2)  that  Mary  was  illegally  debarred  from  it,  and  (3)  that 
what  Mary  dreaded  was  that  some  other  successor  than 
she  should  be  nominated  before  Elizabeth's  death. 

The  analogous  case  of  Queen  Anne  has  been  referred 
to,  who  objected  to  her  successor  coming  to  England  in 
her  lifetime,  but  (i)  Queen  Anne's  case  was  a  peculiar 
one,  (2)  Mary  had  no  desire  to  go  to  England  in  Elizabeth's 
lifetime,  and  (3)  Parliament  settled  the  succession  in  Queen 
Anne's  lifetime.  But  of  course  the  time  for  a  really 
amicable  understanding  with  Elizabeth  was  now  past,  and 
it  may  be  that  Mary's  proposals  were  made  more  in  bravado 
than  in  earnest.  Whether,  from  a  strict  regard  to  her 
own  interests,  Elizabeth  was  so  far  justified  in  treating 
Mary  as  she  was  now  doing,  may  be  a  moot  point ;  but 
since  Elizabeth  treated  her  as  she  did,  Mary,  as  ever, 
appears  in  the  part  of  the  adversary  who  received  the 
provocation.^ 

Meantime,  matters  between  Mary  and  the  lords  were 
rapidly  nearing  a  crisis.  Apparently  to  remove  the 
anxieties  of  the  Protestants,  Darnley,  who  since  his  arrival 
had  posed  as  a  Protestant,  went,  on  August  19th,  to  "the 
sermonde "  as  usual.  The  discourse  of  Knox,  on  this 
critical  occasion,  was  afterwards  written  out  by  him  from 
memory,  and  it  is  the  only  one  of  his  sermons  that  has 
been  preserved.  It  is  of  inordinate  length,  and,  according 
to  Knox,  or  his  continuator,  "  because  he  had  tarried  an 
hour  and  more  longer  than  the  time  appointed,  the  King 
(sitting  on  a  throne  made  for  that  purpose),  was  so  moved 

^  What  chances  of  final  reconciliation  between  the  queens  there  might 
have  been,  were  lost  by  the  refusal  of  Thomworth  to  accept  a  passport  signed 
by  Darnley  as  King.  This  both  involved  his  detention  for  some  time  in 
Scotland,  and  introduced  a  new  subject  of  quarrel. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE  347 


at  this  sermon  that  he  would  not  dine  ;  and  being  troubled 
with  great  fury,  he  past  in  the  afternoon  to  the  hawking.'*  ^ 
The  King's  dinner  may  well  have  got  out  of  season  by 
his  long  detention ;  but  the  veiled  insolence  to  him  through- 
out the  tirade  must  have  galled  him  so  much,  that  probably, 
but  for  the  fact  that  he  was  there  for  a  political  purpose, 
he  would  have  bounced  out  of  the  church. 

Notwithstanding  the  deep  emotional  piety  pervading 
the  sermon,  it  was  plainly  not  one  of  Knox's  most  un- 
restrained performances.  It  lacks  something  of  the  Knoxian 
vehemence  and  fire.  Though  it  abounds  in  malevolent 
insinuations,  more  is  implied  than  is  directly  expressed, 
and  it  is  pervaded  by  a  tone  of  almost  hopeless  melancholy, 
produced  by  the  defection  of  so  many  Protestants  and 
the  conviction  that  Moray  and  his  confederates  had  no 
chance  against  the  Queen. 

"Let  the  faithful!,"  he  says, "  not  be  discouraged,  although 
they  be  appointed  as  shepe  to  the  slaughter-house ;  for 
he  for  whose  sake  they  suffer,  shall  not  forget  to  revenge 
their  cause."  Give  us,"  thus  he  addressed  the  Most  High 
in  his  peroration,  "  O  Lorde  !  heartes  to  visite  thee  in  time 
of  our  affliction  ;  and  that,  albeit  we  see  none  ende  of 
our  dolors,  that  yet  our  faith  and  hope  maye  conduct 
us  to  the  assured  hope  of  that  joyfull  resurrection,  in  the 
which  we  shal  possess  the  fruite  of  that  for  the  which 
nowe  we  travaile.  And  in  the  meane  season  graunt  unto 
usj  O  Lorde  !  to  repose  ourselves  in  the  sanctuary  of  thy 
promise,  that  in  thee  we  may  find  comforte,  till  that  this 
thy  great  indignation,  begunne  amongst  us,  may  passe  over, 
and  thou  thyselfe  appeare  to  the  comforte  of  thy  afflicted, 
and  to  the  terrour  of  thine  enemies."    The  main  interest 

^  IVgrks,  ii.  497  ;  for  the  Sermon,  see  /did.,  vi.  230-73. 


348  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


of  the  sermon  is  that  while  it  shows  the  relentless  antipathy 
of  the  extreme  Protestants  to  Mary,  it  also  mirrors  the 
state  of  utter  dejection  into  which  they  had  fallen  on 
account  of  the  rigorous  methods  adopted  by  Mary  against 
the  rebels  ;  but  it  is  more  than  a  pity  that,  as  he  says  in 
his  preface,  Knox  of  purpose  "  omitted  persuasions  and 
exhortations  which  then  were  made  for  alluring  suche  unto 
the  feare  of  God,  whom  gladly  I  would  have  pleased,  if 
so  I  could  have  done,  and  not  have  betrayed  the  manifest 
truth  of  my  God." 

Knox  had  never  a  doubt  as  to  what  was  "  the  manifest 
truth"  of  his  God "  ;  but  if  we  are  to  judge  of  the 
character  of  his  allurements  "  by  the  specimen  of  them 
preserved  by  his  continuator,  they  were  a  little  eccentric  : 
amongst  other  things  he  said  was  that  God  sets  in  that 
room  (for  the  offences  and  ingratitude  of  the  people)  boys 
and  women."  And  amongst  some  other  words  which 
appeared  bitter  in  the  King's  ear,"  were  that  God  justly 
punished  Ahab  and  his  posterity,  because  he  would  not 
take  order  with  that  harlot  Jezabel."  Small  wonder  that 
after  listening  to  such  allurements,"  the  King  appeared 
bitter,"  and  felt  the  need  of  an  afternoon  of  hawking  to 
restore  his  spirits  !  It  was  but  a  light  punishment,  for 
this  outrageous  political  offence,  to  prohibit  Knox,  as  the 
Council  did,  from  preaching  for  fifteen  or  twenty  days  ; 
but  the  aim  of  the  Queen  was  meanwhile  to  avoid  hurting 
the  susceptibilities  of  the  Protestants.  The  prohibition 
for  this  short  period  was  also  useful,  as  it  prevented  Knox 
from  inflaming  further  the  minds  of  the  people.  His  leisure 
was  spent  by  him  in  preparing  his  sermon  for  publication, 
but  the  spell  of  his  spoken  eloquence  could  not  be 
transferred  to  paper. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE  349 


Meantime  the  rebel  lords  had  on  the  15th  begun  to 
muster  their  forces  near  Ayr,  so  as  to  be  ready  to  take 
the  field  on  the  24th,  and  thus  attack  the  Queen  before 
her  preparations  for  resistance  were  complete.  But  as 
soon  as  Mary  learned  their  intentions,  she,  on  the  22nd, 
issued  an  urgent  summons  to  the  men  of  the  middle  shires 
to  meet  the  King  and  Queen's  Majesties  "  within  certain 
dates  at  Edinburgh  or  other  convenient  towns  on  the  way 
westwards  to  Glasgow,  her  purpose  being  to  go  as  rapidly 
as  she  could  in  pursuit  of  the  rebels,  collecting  her  forces 
at  different  stages  of  her  journey. 

Mary's  words  against  Moray  were,  according  to 
Randolph,  "  outrageous,"  and  she  affirmed  that  she  would 
rather  loose  her  crown  than  not  be  revenged  on  him  "  ; 
but  she  was  really  fighting  against  her  brother  for  her 
crown.  On  the  afternoon  of  Sunday,  26th,  she  left 
Edinburgh  to  pass  the  night  at  Linlithgow,  600 
"  harqubussiers  "  and  200  spearmen  following  her  on  the 
morrow.  By  the  time  she  reached  Glasgow  her  followers 
had  increased  to  over  5,000  ;  but  Moray  and  the  Duke 
adopted  the  bold  and  clever  ruse  of  marching  on  Edinburgh, 
which  they  entered  on  the  last  day  of  August  with  1,200 
horse,  Argyll  being  expected  to  join  them  on  the  following 
Monday  with  as  many  more. 

The  aim  of  Moray  and  the  Duke  was  to  gain  recruits 
from  Edinburgh  and  other  towns,  and,  if  possible,  to 
hold  the  city  until  a  force  of  400  harqubussiers — a  vain 
dream  ! — could  be  landed  from  England  at  Leith.  Moray's 
hope  of  adding  to  his  followers  proved  delusive  ;  however 
we  may  account  for  it,  Edinburgh,  blessed  though  it  was 
by  the  ministrations  of  one  whose  tongue  God  had  made 
"  a  trumpet  to  forewarne  realmes  and  nations,"  now  proved 


2  so  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


quite  lukewarm  in  the  support  of  the  rebels.  Moreover, 
Mar,  who  held  the  castle  in  the  Queen's  behalf, 
threatened  that  if  Moray  remained  longer  in  the  city, 
he  would  turn  his  cannon  against  it  ;  and  he  actually  began 
firing,  to  the  utter  consternation  of  the  prophetic  Knox, 
who  was  just  then  penning  the  concluding  portions  of 
his  sermon,  and,  in  his  utter  dismay,  perorated  thus  : — 

"  Lorde  !  in  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit  ;  for  the 
terrible  roring  of  gunnes  and  the  noyce  of  armour,  doe  so 
pierce  my  heart,  that  my  soule  thirstith  to  depart  "  *  *  * 
"  Be  mercifull  to  thy  flocke,  O  Lorde  !  and  at  thy  good 
pleasure,  put  an  end  to  my  miserie." 

Never  perhaps,  in  his  whole  life,  had  Knox  been  so 
overwhelmed  with  despair.  At  last,  at  his  urgent  entreaty, 
Moray  was  seeking  the  Queen's  overthrow  ;  and  if  Moray 
were  taken — as  seemed  now  most  likely — Knox  and 
Protestantism  seemed  doomed  to  perish  with  him.  So 
hopeless  was  now  Moray's  plight,  that  he  and  the  lords 
who  had  set  at  defiance  the  summons  to  appear  before 
the  Council,  sent  Mary  a  meek  letter,  begging  her  to 
leave  off  pursuit  and  permit  the  Council  to  try  their 
case.^  But  now  that  she  had  laid  her  hand  to  the  plough, 
she  was  not  so  weak  as  to  think  of  turning  back.  Her 
strength  lay  in  the  fact  that  she,  alone  of  the  main  persons 
concerned,  was  quite  regardless  of  consequences.  Her 
brother  Moray  was  brave  enough,  and  he  was  now  at 
bay  ;  but  he  had  quite  failed  to  kindle  general  Protestant 
enthusiasm  ;  and  cost  what  it  might,  Mary  would  never 
again  be  at  his  beck.  Nor  was  Elizabeth's  policy  of 
hide-and-seek  of  any  use  in  such  a  crisis.  The  French 
ambassador,    in  dread   lest  Mary  should    throw  herself 

^  Scottish  Papers^  ii.  200. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE  351 


into  the  arms  of  Spain — as  indeed  she  proposed  to  do 
— seconded  the  hypocritical  pretensions  of  Elizabeth  in 
her  new  role  of  mediator ;  but  Mary  treated  such 
attempted  interference  in  her  affairs  with  mere  scorn. 
Some  of  her  own  followers  were  no  doubt  lukewarm  ; 
though  they  thought  Moray  was  acting  foolishly,  they 
were  averse  to  extremities  against  him  ;  but  in  the 
mood  with  which  Mary  was  now  possessed,  they  had 
no  choice  but  to  obey  her.  Amazed,  and  secretly  dis- 
gusted, at  Elizabeth's  hesitation,  Randolph  assured  Cecil 
that  by  a  bribe  of  ^8,000  or  ^10,000,  it  might  easily 
be  brought  to  passe  that  one  countrye  maye  receave  bothe 
the  Quenes  before  yt  be  longe."  ^  He  may  have  had 
good  reason  for  what  he  said  ;  but  the  money  was  not 
forthcoming,  and  the  desired  consummation  was  longer 
deferred  than  Randolph  hoped. 

Moray,  almost  caught  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Edin- 
burgh by  Mary's  rapid  march  eastward  in  the  face  of 
very  tempestuous  weather,  left  the  city  on  the  afternoon 
of  Sunday,  September  2nd  ;  and,  to  avoid  capture,  had 
nothing  for  it  but  to  hurry  southwards  towards  Dumfries- 
there  to  await  in  vain  the  expected  help  from  England. 
Mary  went  back  by  Stirling  to  Glasgow,  to  keep 
watch  on  the  movements  of  Argyll  ;  but  afterwards 
returned  to  Edinburgh  to  organise  a  more  powerful  force 
against  the  rebels  in  view  of  their  possible  reinforcement 
from  England.  Meanwhile,  the  rebels  sent  Robert 
Melville,  on  September  loth,  to  England  to  ask  from 
Elizabeth  definite  external  support,  including  a  fully 
appointed  force  of  3,000  men,  with  field-pieces  and  a  siege 
battery  ;  ^  but  though  Randolph  was  backed  up  by  the 

^  Scottish  Papers,  \\,  202.  ^  Ibid.,  207 


352  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS 


urgent  representations  of  the  rebel  lords,  and  though  he 
abounded  in  exaggeration  of  Mary's  difficulties  and  the  luke- 
warmness  of  her  followers,  his  enthusiastic  attempts  to 
spur  Elizabeth  towards  active  measures  for  the  ruin  of 
her  rival  were  all  in  vain.  Elizabeth  hinted,  encouraged, 
promised  ;  but,  in  view  of  possible  foreign  complications, 
she  dared  not  permit  an  English  soldier  to  set  his  foot 
on  Scottish  soil.  The  Moray  fiasco  need  not,  therefore, 
detain  us  long.  Mary,  quite  in  the  dark  as  to  what 
Elizabeth  might  be  intending  or  doing,  resolved  to  prepare 
as  best  she  could  for  the  worst  ;  and  while  sending 
messages  both  to  the  Pope  and  the  King  of  Spain  for 
support,  she  gathered  together  a  powerful  force  to  attack 
her  brother  before  any  large  reinforcement  could  reach 
him.  Amongst  her  new  recruits  was  Lord  Gordon  (who 
on  October  6th  was  restored  to  his  earldom,  and  who 
brought  with  him  a  large  force  from  the  north)  and 
Bothwell,  who,  according  to  the  envious  and  anxious 
Randolph,  was  taking  great  things  on  him  and  promising 
much  :  "  a  feete  capitayne,"  adds  the  sneering  ambassador, 
for  so  loose  a  compagnie  "  [wild  Border  rievers]  *'as  nowe 
hange  upon  hym."  ^ 

But  Mary  was  now  setting  out  against  a  merely 
imaginary  foe.  Before  she  left  Edinburgh,  the  insurgent 
army  had  dissolved,  like  a  fairy  vision,  and  its  leaders  had 
vanished  into  England.  Moray  himself,  who  had  gone  to 
Carlisle,  in  order  apparently  to  meet  reinforcements  which, 
through  Leicester,  he  had  been  urging  Elizabeth  to  hasten, 
so  as  to  put  an  end  ^'  to  their  troubles,"  received  there, 
instead  of  the  hoped-for  armed  help,  a  letter  from  Elizabeth 
to  the  Lords,  informing  them  that  she  could  not  grant 
1  Scottish  Papers^  ii.  219. 


From  the  picture  at  the  Hermitage,  St.  Petersburg. 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE 


them  the  aid  they  required  without  ^*  open  war''  ;  but  that 
if  they  could  get  no  terms  from  the  Queen,  she  [Elizabeth], 
out  of  her  private  love  and  clemency,  "  will  not  omytt  to 
receave  them  into  hir  protection,  and  save  ther  persons  and 
lyves  from  ruyne."  ^ 

To  complete  the  comedy,  the  crestfallen  Moray  had, 
practically  on  condition  of  his  obtaining  refuge  in  England, 
to  undergo  the  famous  scolding  ordeal  in  the  presence  of 
the  two  French  ambassadors.  His  hopes  when  he  took  up 
arms  must  have  been  high,  and  Elizabeth  must  have  guessed 
only  too  well  what  they  were.  Could  he,  with  Elizabeth's 
help,  have  captured  his  sister  and  her  husband  and  handed 
them  over  to  Elizabeth's  keeping,  his  elevation  either  to  the 
regency  or  the  crown  would  have  been  the  reward  of  his 
great  achievement.  Now,  baffled  and  disgraced,  he  had  to 
choose  to  which  of  the  two  queens  he  would  entrust  his 
fortunes  ;  and  Elizabeth's  insults  were  not  so  terrible  as 
his  sister's  wrath.  Writing  to  Leicester  on  October  19th, 
Randolph  reported  that  the  Queen  is  nowe  retorned  from 
her  paynefuU  and  greate  yornaye.  She  roode  farre  with 
great  expedition,  myche  troble  of  the  whole  countrie,  and 
found  not  them  whome  she  soughte,  when  she  cam  to  her 
yornies  ende."  ^ 

*  Scottish  Papers,  ii.  216. 

2  Add.  MSS.  (B.  M.),  35,125  f.  14. 


END   OF   VOL.  I 


VOL.  I. 


23 


PRINTED  BY 
HAZELL,  WATSON  AND  VINEY,  LD. 
LONDON  AND  AYLESBURY, 
ENGLAND. 


The  Russian  Court 

in  the  Eighteenth  Century 

By  FITZGERALD  MOLLOY 

Author  of  "  The  Romance  of  Royalty,"  "  The  Sailor  King  :  his  Court  and 
his  Subjects,"  etc. 

In  2  vols.,  demy  ^vo,  cloth  gilt  and  gilt  top.    24s,  net 

Illustrated  with  2  PhotograYure  Frontispieces  and  24  full- 
page  plates  on  art  paper 

It  is  probable  that  of  all  Mr.  Fitzgerald  Molloy's  historical  books,  his 
new  work,  "The  Russian  Court  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,"  will  be  found 
the  most  fascinating.  If  it  were  not  that  the  author,  in  addition  to  the 
evidence  of  English  Ambassadors  whose  despatches  and  papers  have  been 
preserved  in  the  State  Paper  Office  and  the  Manuscript  Library  of  the 
British  Museum,  also  quotes  the  correspondence  of  Foreign  Ministers, 
and  the  memoirs  of  travellers  to  the  Court  of  St.  Petersburg,  it  might  be 
thought  that  the  story  told  in  these  pages  dealt  with  sensational  fiction 
rather  than  with  historical  facts,  so  extraordinary  are  the  social  and 
political  intrigues,  so  barbaric  the  splendour  and  extravagance,  so  terrible 
the  tragedies  which  they  describe.  The  whole  amazing  story  of  the 
Russian  Court  is  told  with  that  faithful  attention  to  facts,  that  vivid 
realism  and  dramatic  style,  which  have  appealed  to  a  wide  public  and 
gained  the  writer  his  great  popularity. 

The  Life  of  Queen  Henrietta^Maria 

By  L  A.  TAYLOR 

Author  of  "Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald,"  etc. 

In  2  vols,  demy  8z/o,  cloth  gilt  and  gilt  top,  24s,  net 

With  32  full-page  Illustrations  and  2  Photogravure  Frontispieces 

These  volumes  contain  the  life  of  Queen  Henrietta-Maria,  in  the 
detail  rendered  possible  by  the  copious  memoirs  of  the  day  and  the 
collections  of  contemporary  documents.  The  history  of  the  Reine  Mal- 
heureuse — to  give  her  her  self-chosen  title — was  an  eventful  one.  Born 
a  few  months  before  the  murder  of  her  father,  Henri-Quatre,  her  youth 
at  her  brothers  Court,  the  vicissitudes  of  her  married  life,  the  risks  she 
ran  and  the  perils  she  escaped,  the  period  of  her  residence  in  Paris  at  the 
time  of  the  Regency  and  the  Fronde,  her  relations  with  her  French  kindred 
and  with  her  own  sons  and  daughters,  afford  an  unusual  variety  of  in- 
cident and  interest.  It  is  the  more  singular  that  her  biographies  have 
been  few. 

HUTCHINSON  &  CO.,  34,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 


Twenty  Years  in  Paris 

Being  some  Recollections  of  a  Literary  Life 


By  ROBERT  H.  SHERARD 

Author  of  "Emile  Zola  :  a  Biography,"  "  Alphonse  Daudet :  a  Biography," 
"The  Child-Slaves  of  Britain,"  elc. 

In  demy  Svo,  cloth  gilt  and  gilt  top.     16s.  net 
Illustrated  with  Portraits,  etc. 

Under  the  title  "Twenty  Years  in  Paris,"  Mr.  Robert  Sherard  has 
written  a  volume  of  "  Reminiscences  of  a  Literary  Life  in  the  French 
Capital."  "His  qualifications  for  dealing  with  French  subjects  are  well 
known.  He  possesses  a  close  acquaintance  with  France  and  her  people 
and  language,  and  enjoys,  besides,  the  advantage  of  friendship  with  some 
of  the  most  prominent  of  our  French  contemporaries." — The  Athen^um. 

Amongst  personal  friends  of  the  author  were  V'ictor  Hugo,  Ferdinand 
de  Lesseps,  Eiffel,  General  Boulanger,  Baron  Haussmann,  Jules  Verne, 
Kenan,  Oscar  Wilde,  Daudet,  Ernest  Dowson,  Zola,  and  of  all  of  these, 
as  well  as  of  many  others  of  equal  fame,  he  has  much  to  relate  which 
is  both  new  and  interesting.  Apart  from  the  personalia,  the  book  will 
contain  a  running  commentary,  with  anecdotal  illustrations  on  the  social 
and  political  history  of  France  during  the  period  mentioned,  to  which,  it  is 
thought,  it  will  afford,  by  the  mass  of  information  and  comment  given,  a 
bright  and  interesting  guide.    It  will  be  fully  illustrated. 

In  the  Sixties  and  Seventies 

Impressions  of  Literary  People  and  Others 
By  LAURA  HAIN  FRISWELL 

/n  defny  Siv,  cloth  gilt  and  gilt  top.     \  6s.  net 

The  writer  of  this  book  is  a  daughter  of  the  late  Mr.  Haiu  Friswell, 
author  of  the  "  Gentle  Life  "  and  other  well-known  books.  Mr.  Friswell, 
who  was  intimately  associated  with  most  of  the  distinguished  literary 
men  of  his  day,  entertained  many  of  them  at  his  house.  Miss  Friswell's 
recollections  of  the  Literary  Lions  whom  she  has  m.et  are  very  lively 
and  interesting :  they  cover  a  wide  field,  and  include  Lord  Beaconsfield, 
W.  E.  Gladstone,  Sir  William  Harcourt,  Sir  Richard  and  Lady  Burton, 
Sir  Benjamin  Ward  Richardson,  Sir  Henry  Irving,  Charles  Dickens, 
George  Cruikshank,  Mr.  Swinburne,  Lord  Tennyson,  George  du  Maurier, 
Thomas  Cooper  the  Chartist,  Charles  Kingsley,  S.  Phelps,  Rev.  J.  M. 
Bellew,  Anthony  Trollope,  Wm.  Black,  James  Rice,  Louis  Blanc,  Maddox 
Brown,  William  Morris,  Sir  Walter  Besant,  Sir  H.  M.  Stanley,  Artemus 
Ward,  Arthur  Sketchley,  etc.,  etc. 


HUTCHINSON  AND  CO.,  34,  PATERNOSTER  ROW 


Date  Due 

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